Light Follows After
by frozenpixie
Summary: Higuchi dies, and Light doesn't regain his memories. Case closed, L offers to take Light along to investigate with him on a new case. AU after Anime episode 24. L/Light fluff within, and fun cameos from the Wammy's House crew. SEQUEL UP.
1. In Flames

**What? A Death Note fic? Yes, my attention span is horrible and I've been reading a lot of L/Light recently. If I had a OTP, this would be it! Not sure where it's going, but I cry whenever I watch L's death scene, so I thought, what if Light wasn't Kira anymore? They could finally have the ending they were supposed to have. But then it turned into a beginning, and this fic was born, so more chapters and a new case to follow... if I don't get distracted by term starting up again tomorrow. Oh, sorry, you wanted to read my fic not listen to me babbling. All right, go on then, and please leave a review.**

Light started forwards, eyes wide with horror as the yellow flames began to lick the exterior of Higuchi's car, sneaking through the shattered glass of the window.

"Dad, get him out of there," he shouted, barely registering the sound of his own voice above the shouts, the sirens and the whir of the propellers from the helicopter. "Somebody do something." He was fumbling with his own seatbelt, tearing at his headset, desperate to _move _where everybody else was standing still, staring dumbstruck at the red sports car which was resembling a fireball more by the second. He felt a cold hand snake around his wrist and turned, wide-eyed, to see Ryuuzaki staring at him intently, shaking his head.

"No, Light-kun," the skinny detective said softly. "It's too dangerous."

"But we'll never know," Light almost howled. "We need him to confess. Ryuuzaki, I thought you of all people would want to know how he's been doing it. If I stay here he's going to d-"

His sentence was cut off by a deafening explosion, and as his head twisted around he saw the frozen police officers being hurled off their feet by the force of the blast. He thought he might be screaming, but the other sounds were so loud and disorienting that he couldn't be sure. All he was sure of was that Higuchi was dead, and the evidence had burned with him. A gentle tugging at his wrist distracted him, and he turned to face Ryuuzaki again, trying to focus on his lips, on the words tumbling from between them and into the thick air of the helicopter cab.

"We have more than enough evidence that Higuchi was Kira. It is disappointing that we could not determine how he killed, but perhaps this is for the best."

"How can you say that Ryuuzaki?" Light demanded. "My father was shot so that we could see how he killed. How can you be satisfied with a case half resolved?"

"Kira is dead," Ryuuzaki said simply. "This is a victory, Light-kun."

Light struggled to control his breathing, to prevent himself from yelling at the too-composed detective. He wasn't thinking rationally, he knew. Was this another test? Would L think he was too eager to see Kira's methods, and deepen his suspicions about Light himself?

But Kira was dead, Light reminded himself. It was over, and L would at least have to concede Light's innocence once the killings stopped. That, at least, was a relief. But somehow he was still bitterly disappointed that Kira's methods would remain a mystery. Somehow, even with this victory, the Task Force had failed. But how to convey this to L? L, of all people, whom he thought would have understood the desire for truth.

Some of his thoughts must have been apparent in his expression, because Ryuuzaki gave his hand, which he was still gripping, a small squeeze.

"It is over, Light-kun," he said gently.

"It is over, isn't it?" Light asked, seeking a measure of reassurance from the intelligent detective. "You don't think Kira will transfer his powers? That it's possible another Kira will emerge?"

"We cannot rule out the possibility," L replied, and Light caught in his eyes the rapidly spinning theories and deductions which were probably the reason Ryuuzaki rarely slept. It may be over, but L would not rest, either, until he was satisfied. Light felt slightly comforted by the thought, although it surprised him somewhat how deeply he relied on L as an ally.

"I'm sorry, Ryuuzaki," came his father's voice from the ground. He looked tired and stressed, but there was a sense of completion about him which Light did not feel. "There was nothing we could do. Higuchi fell unconscious in the crash and the petrol tank must have ignited. The entire car and everything inside is destroyed."

"Thank you, Yagami-san," L replied seriously. "That would seem to be the case."

Souchiro gave a small cough, possibly at the lack of reaction from L. He glanced at Light, whose face was still flushed with emotion.

"If I could suggest, Ryuuzaki, that we retire to headquarters and let the police take care of this? There's nothing else for us to do here," he said tactfully. L favoured him with a long, wide eyed stare which had him shifting slightly even after all their time working together, and nodded slowly.

"Light-kun and I will fly back and meet you there," he decided.

As Souchiro turned to relay the message to the others, Light felt the release of pressure around his hand which told him that L had been holding it tightly the whole time. His father's questioning look took on a new meaning. Stealing a glance at the other man, he saw him rooting with apparent enthrallment in the glove compartment, where he extracted a bag of toffees with reverence. Light turned back to the car wreck, and focused on keeping his breathing even; for some reason, he had a strong urge to sigh.

-

L was crouching in his habitual stance, facing the rest of the Task Force, all of whom were in varying states of jubilation. Light, neither one nor the other, was lingering to one side, the chain slack between him and Ryuuzaki, the symbol of a redundant suspicion. He was not really listening as L debriefed them. He knew the detective well enough to know what he was saying. There was still a chance of a second Kira, but they could do nothing until evidence presented itself, so the Task Force was free to disband unless new evidence came to light. Talking of Light...

"Am I free from suspicion now, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked out loud, interrupting the monologue. Large black pupils homed in on him.

"If Kira's attacks cease, Light-kun is free to leave also. I wish to keep surveillance until I am satisfied Kira is gone forever," L informed him. His expression was inscrutable, but Light got the distinct impression that he and Ryuuzaki were both less than satisfied with the manifold loopholes still riddling the case. For L's part, this meant that Light was still a suspect. For Light's, it meant that he still wanted to work with Ryuuzaki, so he nodded his assent even as the others gave shouts of protest.

"It's fine," he assured his father. "Dad, if you're free to leave, you should go home and see mum and Sayu. They must miss you. L and I will sort things out here, right, Ryuuzaki?"

L nodded, but Matsuda broke in, voice loud with excitement.

"No way, you can't sit here and work when we've found Kira," he cried. "Let's celebrate!"

"Matsuda-san and the others are free to celebrate," L told him monotonously. "I still have many other cases to work on. Thank you all for your help."

It was as clear-a dismissal as L could have mustered, and characteristically devoid of drama and long farewells. With a last few words to Light, Souchiro followed the excitedly babbling Matsuda and their colleagues, and the Task Force was disbanded.

"I am sorry that Light-kun cannot join in the celebrations," L said quietly. Light slumped in a chair next to him and resisted the urge to run his hands through his sleek hair.

"I don't feel much like celebrating," he said honestly. "Although I expect Misa will be down soon; she must have watched it on the news. She'll want to know what happened."

"Ah yes. Misa-san will be worried about Light-kun's well-being." L's voice was as even and unreadable as ever, but Light thought he sensed a faint disapproval.

"If Misa is off the hook as second Kira, she can leave," he hinted.

"I must keep Misa-san under surveillance for a while, too, Light-kun," L reminded him. Light sighed. He thought L would say that, although a part of him had almost wondered if L kept him so close not because he needed to, but because he wanted to.

"Ryuuzaki," he began hesitantly. "Once this case is properly closed, I mean, assuming Kira doesn't re-emerge-"

"I think it unlikely, Light-kun," Ryuuzaki told him. "If I am correct in my theory that Kira transferred his powers to Higuchi, it is likely that with Higuchi's death, that power died with him."

"I hope so," Light agreed fervently. "But Ryuuzaki- what will you do now?"

"Light-kun knows that I have many calls on my time, as the three greatest detectives in the world," responded L, fixing Light with his wide, disconcerting gaze. "I will solve cases as my whims dictate."

"And the Task Force?" Light asked. He knew that L understood what he meant by this. _What about me? Are we just going to part ways forever?_

"I will debrief the police and make sure that Yagami-san and the others are offered their jobs back," L replied. "As for Light-kun, does he not wish to return to university and his friends, and to pick up his relationship with Misa-san?"

"I guess," Light said reluctantly, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "It's just, what with this case and all, school seems so... pointless. There's no challenge in it. Even the police force will seem mundane after the search for Kira."

"What does Light-kun wish to do, then?" L asked. Light saw the almost imperceptible glimmer of impudence in L's eyes, and fought to keep a scowl off his face. Damn you, Ryuuzaki, you know exactly what I want.

"I don't feel like this case is properly resolved," he said instead, ignoring the slight flush of his cheeks. "We still don't know how Kira kills- killed, I mean, and we don't know how the powers transferred from the first and second Kiras, or even who they were, if we assume they were different people to Higuchi."

"Light-kun has never been so candid in his views before," L remarked idly. "He seems certain that another Kira existed."

"Well, there's no other way to explain it," Light said awkwardly. He knew it put his neck in the noose admitting the likelihood of a different Kira, but even if it had been him, he would rather know instead of guessing.

"I don't remember being Kira," he supplied eventually, the words coming slowly and with some difficulty, since it was tantamount to confession to speak them. "I hate to think I could ever act so monstrously and kill so ruthlessly, but I do believe that Higuchi was not the original Kira and I know, I _know, _that if I were Kira, if I could transfer my powers to someone else, I would do it to divert suspicion from myself, provided there was a way to reverse the effect. Maybe I was Kira, but it went wrong, and the powers did not return when Higuchi was caught. If I were Kira, I know that I would try to use my power to make the world better, even though it sickens me to think it. With so much power, who wouldn't use it...?"

Light had been so caught up in his own theories that he had practically forgotten about the nail-biting detective crouching a few feet away. He started when Ruuzaki spoke, and cursed himself for speaking so freely.

"Light-kun knows that I suspected him of being Kira," L was saying. "That suspicion is now at 99%." Light's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest, but L continued. "My suspicions that Light-kun is Kira at this moment are only 3%, however. If Light-kun was Kira, he would not have had anything to gain by telling me this."

"If I look at the evidence assuming that Misa and I were Kira until some point during our confinement," Light answered, "it makes a lot more sense, although we're lacking a few crucial bits of evidence; how Kira kills, how the powers were transferred, why I can't remember-" he cut off angrily. "I'm not Kira," he said firmly.

"Light-kun," L said softly.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light said, turning to see the dark-haired detective staring at an interesting view of nothing-much over Light's right shoulder.

"Light-kun is very intelligent," L continued. "He realises that he has to be Kira. But if Kira-kun's plan was to retrieve his powers, Kira-kun has failed. Light-kun is Light-kun. I am 87% sure that Kira is gone for good."

"Ryuuzaki-" Light managed.

"I will miss Light-kun's insights," L mused. "I almost wish Light-kun was still Kira so that I could continue working with him."

"I'll miss working with you, too, Ryuuzaki," Light confessed, feeling his cheeks flame and remembering the cool hand which had briefly covered his own.

"Perhaps Light-kun would consider a continued partnership?" Ryuuzaki offered. Light could barely believe his ears. "If the killings do not continue. It would be interesting to work with Light-kun as an equal."

"An equal," Light repeated cautiously. He could feel L watching him for a reaction. He seemed almost... nervous? No, it was impossible. "Are you in earnest?" Light asked.

"I mean what I say, Light-kun," Ryuuzaki replied. Light felt it. It was irrepressible. A smile bright enough to do justice to his name was threatening to break out over his face. For one, two, three seconds he struggled in vain, and then in split his face in two, impossible to deny. For a second Ryuuzaki looked astonished, then his own lips turned upwards in hesitant answer.

Light knew it was completely out of character for him. He knew that it would be awkward. But he couldn't help it. He had not felt this happy for months. No, years. No, ever. He threw himself forwards and hugged the astonished detective, hearing the sound of his own carefree laugh ringing in his ears.

He thought his grin could not get any wider, but as the butterfly-light touch against his shoulder-blades told him that L was hugging him back, somehow, it managed to prove him wrong.


	2. To England With Cake

**Many thanks for the amazing number of story alerts and hits. Reviews would be even nicer, hint, hint. Ahem, the story will warm up, promise, and I think Mello and co. pop up in the next chapter, too... Plus, to all Misa-haters, I like Misa, so in my fic Light did not hate her guts (whilst canon might strongly suggest this, he does ask her to move in with him, and speaking from experience, you can't live with a person for four years if you hate their guts, even if you are using them for your insane world domination plans. Well, the first bit is in my experience anyway.) I thought she deserved acknowledgement, anyway, and the conversation will be referred to later for plot purposes (if I remember).Ok, read on.**

It had been two weeks since Higuchi's death, and the world was beginning to come out from Kira's shadow, which was to say, the belief that Kira was gone was stronger than ever, although crime rates remained low. All in all, it was a good change. Some things, however, remained the same. Light was attempting to work shampoo into his hair whilst navigating the irksome chain tugging at his wrist and tangling around his arm.

"Dammit," he cursed to himself as the chain tightened and he was forced to slam into the shower door to keep from falling over. He should have been used to it by now, but it was still an awkward process. He turned off the spray and heard L's persistent typing cease on the other side of the stall. A few moments later it ceased, and Light was handed a large, fluffy towel over the top of the shower stall.

"Thanks," he muttered as he began drying his dripping hair. When he emerged a few minutes later to grab his clothes and begin tugging them on under his towel, he noticed that Ryuuzaki looked uncharacteristically gleeful.

"What are you doing, Ryuuzaki?" he asked curiously. He was rewarded with a quick, devious glance from the crouching detective.

"I have found us a new case, Light-kun," L replied. "In England."

Light was temporarily speechless, a rare occurrence for the articulate young man. Fourteen days had passed since L had so much as mentioned their proposed partnership. They had reviewed the Kira case, bandied theories about, played chess and watched terrible television reruns with Misa. The three of them had even baked a disastrously sugary cake, but no mention of the future had so much as scratched its nose at him. Not that he was complaining; it was nice to relax a little in the now familiar environment of Kira HQ instead of sitting up until four in the morning logging deaths. With just the three of them around, it had been almost like a vacation. But here it was again; it was real. He would work with L. They were going to-

"England?" he repeated.

"Have you ever been to England, Light-kun?" L asked him. Light shook his head numbly.

"I've never been outside Japan," he replied.

"I was in England for five years," L mused. "I would like to show Light-kun where I grew up."

"R-really?" Light stammered. It was strange. Somehow, Ryuuzaki was beginning, after all this time, to regard him with some sort of trust. Or maybe, and Light could not help considering it, it was a sort of test; he was feeding Kira information to see how he would react, waiting to strike the moment Kira did. But somehow, Light did not believe it.

"I would like that," he replied honestly. "What's the case?"

"A series of murders based on the events of a bestselling novel series," Ryuuzaki informed him, his eyes lighting up. "Judging by the time-frame so far, the case should take a few weeks to run its course."

"A few-" Light's brain was working fast. "L, what about Misa?" He disliked bringing his domestic situation into this, but even Misa would have something to say about Light disappearing for weeks on end.

"That is Light-kun's decision," L said briefly. "I believe long distance relationships are often employed between two people of conflicting careers."

Light sighed. He knew he would have to do it, and soon. It caused him a little sadness; he had grown genuinely fond of the effervescent model since she had bounded uninvited into his life, and although her incessant talk of shoes, celebrities and film shoots grated on his nerves, as did her tendency to public displays of affection, she was an intelligent and considerate girl, and incredibly pretty. She had given them a lot of help with the Kira case, and Light felt some guilt and a little remorse at having dragged her into this mess only to break it off with her at this point in time. But he knew that, although he was fond of her, he would never love her like she appeared to love him, with that unshakeable devotion.

"L," he began. "Could you undo the handcuffs, please? I need to talk to Misa before we go to England."

"Light-kun knows I can't do that," L replied. "The handcuffs stay until I am certain there is no danger of Light-kun becoming Kira again."

Light sighed. L had begun to refer to his supposed previous career as a mass-murderer as a fact. It bothered him slightly, but he had learned mostly to ignore it, and the suspicion that L had only offered a partnership to Light so that he could continue his surveillance of him.

"Then could you not listen?" he asked impatiently.

"Light-kun is aware that I cannot do that," L said doggedly. Light sighed.

"I'll wait until Friday, then," he said tiredly. Friday for two hours was the only alone-time L permitted Light and Misa, and even then bugging devices and surveillance cameras tracked their every interaction, making the physical relationship between Light and Misa considerably awkward. "When are we leaving?"

"Thursday," said Ryuuzaki perversely.

"That's tomorrow," Light exclaimed. "Can't I explain to my family first?"

"Light-kun's father is already aware of the situation," L pointed out. Light realised he had lost.

"I'll tell her now, then," he said defeatedly.

"Tell her what, Light-kun?" L prodded, although Light was positive the astute detective must know.

"That I can't be in a relationship with her and travel the globe at the same time," he explained. He thought L's expression hid something more in the wide obsidian eyes that the usual incalculable intelligence, but he would not have liked to venture what that something was.

-

"Is this really necessary?" Light asked irritably as the fifth set of giggling girls to date began to point at the conspicuous handcuff latching them together. L had outdone himself, and was wearing a black trenchcoat, dark sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat which Light was amazed he had managed to cram on over his abundant hair. It made Light long for the familiar scruffy blue jeans and baggy top, but he thanked his lucky stars that Watari had at least been able to browbeat his young protégé into wearing shoes. Light himself was wearing his usual smart jacket, shirt and jeans, and would have cut a perfectly normal figure of he had not been joined at the wrist to the slouching Sherlock cosplay wannabe and carrying at least nine cake boxes piled high in his arms. Unsurprisingly, L did not travel light. Nor did he, he had to admit, thinking guiltily of the many neatly folded shirts and countless pairs of socks in his enormous suitcase. But since their flight was, of course, first class, it did not pose too great-a problem that their carry-on luggage represented about three times their bodyweights.

"Does it bother Light-kun?" asked Ryuuzaki innocently as they both heard a scandalised whisper from one starched old lady to another.

"I could do without it," he admitted.

"Since Light-kun is now single he does not wish to give the wrong impression to the ladies?" L suggested mischievously. Light blushed and scowled.

"Well, somebody might recognise me," he muttered. He wished Ryuuzaki had thought to bring two hats.

"We will be on the flight soon," soothed Watari, calmly bringing up the rear with yet another mountain of luggage, this batch electrical, declared by the tangle of wires emerging from the top of the box.

"Is Light-kun nervous about leaving Japan?" L ventured, his voice a little more gentle than usual.

"No," Light protested. "I'm nearly twenty, it's no big deal. Besides, Ryuuzaki, I have you and Watari with me, so it's not like I won't be looked after."

L looked so flattered that Light had to force himself not to blush. He kept forgetting that few people had really complimented L before, apart from on his detective skills. For something to do, he brought out a notepad from his bag and began to sketch. After a few minutes he felt L's eyes following his hand.

"I didn't know Light-kun liked to draw," he remarked.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Ryuuzaki," Light replied.

"Indeed," was the response. "I was surprised how sensitively Light-kun disposed of Misa. I was under the impression Light-kun found her an annoyance."

"Not really," Light frowned. "I guess, sometimes she could be, and she _would _cling to me when other people were around, which was embarrassing, and interrupt me when I was working. But I do want her to be happy, and I wasn't lying when I said I cared about her. Just... not enough to keep her waiting."

"Light-kun is full of surprises," Ryuuzaki replied, expression unreadable.

"What about you, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked his companion. "After working so long with the Task Force, didn't you come to care about them all?"

His companion was silent for so long Light wouldn't have been surprised if he had fallen asleep under the ridiculous hat.

"I do not like to form emotional attachments to people. I respect them, of course, and I am grateful for their help, but I cannot say that I came to form any enduring bonds with them."

"Not even me?" Light could not help himself.

"Light-kun is exceptional," L responded cryptically.

The call for their flight distracted Light from his response, and he pocketed his sketch, stacked up the cake boxes and followed Watari across the terminal to the plane.

Predictably, L wasted no time in bringing out his laptop and producing a packet of chocolate cookies, looking grubby and disreputable in the spotless airline seat. Light, seated next to him, took out his sketch and began to shade the bustling figures he had captured earlier. After about half an hour, he realised L was watching him intently, and he looked up reluctantly.

"Light-kun looks very serious when he draws," L remarked. "It suits him."

Yet again, Light didn't really know what so say.

**Like? Hate? Too slow? Not enough plot? OOC? Have a suggestion? Please review and tell me.**


	3. The Terrible Three

**Ok, first off thank you SO MUCH for the amazing response I've had for this fic. I was literally in shock for about a day when I opened my inbox. Reviewers, story alerters and story favouriters, I love you all to bits! All right, that's over with. The promised Mello and co. chapter is here, but it came out a bit... cracky? I dunno. I've been writing this fic purely for my own amusement, I have no idea why everyone likes it so much so far, so I'm just going to continue writing whatever pops into my head, k? Hope you enjoy it, if you can spare time to review and tell me what you think that would be lovely :)**

"This is where you grew up?" It came out as a gasp, and Light was sure his eyes were so round they were in danger of rolling right out of his head. They were outside the gates of Wammy's House, Watari's school for 'Extraordinary Children'. Light had somehow never imagined L as a small child, but if he had, it would not have been in a British stately home with ivy creeping up the sides and elegant wrought-iron gates around the extensive green of the grounds.

"For a while," was all L said.

"Wait until you get inside, Yagami-kun," Watari said, eyes twinkling. "I daresay you'll find the place interesting enough."

"That is unfair, Watari," remarked L. "Light-kun, my advice is to be on your guard. Wammy's children tend not to adhere to normal social conventions. I would hold onto your belongings very carefully if you do not want the contents of your bags to be common property within the next ten minutes."

"O-ok," Light stuttered, still trying to get to grips with the quintessential Britishness of it all. Where were the busy roads, the flashing lights, the people? And how could their eyes stand such greenness?

He trailed behind L, trying to reinstate his usual unruffled pose, to reign in his awe at his surroundings. His nerves were also playing a large part in the symphony of his emotions. He half expected to be mobbed by rabid L-miniatures the moment he set foot inside. The slightly worn hallway devoid of people was somewhat anticlimactic.

"Is my room still empty, Watari?" L asked. The man nodded. "This way, Light-kun," L instructed, and Light was led down a corridor and into a smallish room which he could have guessed blindfolded belonged to the detective. It had black curtains drawn across the windows, and the bed, although it was large, looked unslept in, and was home to an army of cushions and cuddly animals. On the desk, next to a large jar of sweets and a biscuit tin of industrial size, stood no less than five computer monitors, all glowing as if in welcome to their master. Two chairs, both perfect in design for L's habitual crouch, comfortable yet practical, stood in wait next to the screens. On the walls were pinned hundreds and hundreds of press clippings, photographs, charts and diagrams of cases past and present. In the bookshelves stood dozens of folders, all labelled in L's haphazard scrawl, and a jumble of books from his childhood, all puzzle books and mystery novels. Light bet silently that if he looked inside any one of them, it would be littered with annotations and corrections.

But the reason he could have told blindfolded that this was the room that L had inhabited for five years was that, even after an unknown length of absence, it had a faint aura of L about it. There hung in the air a readiness, an expectation, and the faint scent of strawberries that Light unconsciously associated with L's presence. No wonder it had been left intact, a shrine and testament of the three greatest detectives in the world.

"Does Light-kun have any objections to sharing the bed?" Ryuuzaki queried. Light blushed and assured him that it was fine. At the HQ, they had slept in twin beds pushed close together. A slim double bed was new territory, but then L rarely went to bed anyway, preferring to sleep in his habitual stance on a chair, if he even slept at all.

"We will not be disturbed here," L assured him. "Although I cannot say the same for most rooms. The children respect my pri-"

The door burst open, and three young teenagers tumbled in, each with a delighted expression on his face.

"You were saying?" Light teased. L looked a little affronted at being proved so hilariously wrong, but his expression was mollified as three talkative tornados whipped through the room and knocked him (and therefore, by default, Light) onto the bed.

"L! We had no idea you were coming. We just saw Watari and the cake boxes in the hall and I thought-" began the redhead.

"_I _thought," interrupted a slight blonde boy imperiously. "L, who is this guy and why is he chained to you?"

"You're here on a case, aren't you?" demanded a third, white-haired boy over the other two. "Aren't you, L? You're here on a case."

"Boys," L pleaded. "I am having difficulty breathing."

Immediately, the three drew back respectfully, still beaming. L crept cautiously onto all fours, and Light rubbed his head where it had hit the dressing table.

"Do I want to know?" he asked wryly, earning a look from the blond kid. The three of them were just as conspicuously odd as L himself; the tallest was red-haired and wearing orange goggles and a toothy grin. The middle one was shorter and slimmer, almost dancer-like in build, with bangs and a proud, aristocratic, and somehow slightly feral expression apparent even through his wide smile. The third and youngest might have been an albino, and Light considered him the most intelligent of the three; there was something uncannily reminiscent of L in his wide, observant eyes.

"Light-kun, these are the three chief trouble-makers at Wammy's, Matt, Mello and Near," L explained, indicating the red, blond and white heads respectively. "Boys, this is Yagami Light, a member of the Task Force I have been working with for my last case. He's here to assist me in a case."

"Like a partner?" Matt said doubtfully at the same time Mello asked "Why the handcuffs?"

"Ah, Light-kun is also the prime suspect of the Kira case," L remarked innocently before climbing off the bed to inspect the biscuit tin which was, predictably, full. He was already crunching blissfully as the words caught up with the three teens.

"What?" Mello exclaimed, at the same time Near shrugged and said '"Figures." Matt was still staring agape at Light as if expecting him to break out into rampaging homicide at any point.

"Ryuuzaki's neglecting the past tense," Light said irritably. "The handcuffs are just a case of guilty until proven innocent. Which I have been. Several times."

"Oh, he's Japanese," Near remarked curiously, listening intently to Light's faint accent. "He doesn't look Japanese."

"You can tell it from the way he stands," Mello dismissed, looking at Light with some contempt. "It practically screams 'serial killer."

"I'm not a-" Light protested, but it was useless, as the three boys were bickering amongst themselves again. Light gave L a pleading look, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"You lived here?" Light asked sceptically. "How?"

"You get used to it," L said happily. "And, I can do this. He plucked a cookie delicately from the box and hurled it with some precision at Mello's head. All three boys turned immediately, falling silent.

"I would like some cake," he requested politely.

"I'll get it," Matt said quickly.

"No, _I _will, Mello protested. "Hey, where's N-" Near had already headed for the door. The two remaining boys shared a quick glance and threw themselves after him. Light blinked in astonishment.

"How?" he asked dazedly.

"Do not underestimate my abilities, Light-kun," Ryuuzaki said mildly. Light was sure that he never would again. Solving impossible cases was one thing. Controlling three teenage geniuses with enough pent up energy and intellectual prowess between them to fly Big Ben to Pluto and back was a whole different league.

"Right," he said faintly, then pulled himself together. "Shall we take a look at the files?" he suggested. L nodded, and when the three teens came back reverently holding a plate full of cake – just one, Light noticed – they were deep in the throes of criminal justice.

"Is he good?" Mello asked bluntly, jerking his thumb at Light.

"Light-kun is very good at many things," L replied sincerely, causing Light to blush at the implications which were written all over Matt and Mello's faces; Near's, like L's was almost impossible to read.

"Light?" repeated Mello with a slight sneer. "Like as in Lightbulb?"

"It's pronounced 'Raito' in Japanese," Light told him defensively. "Is 'Mello' as in '-dramatic'?"

Matt and Near both sniggered, and Mello looked faintly impressed.

"He can stay," he decided, as if this settled matters.

"Congratulations, Light-kun," L remarked through a mouthful of cake.

"So what's this case?" Near asked, peering owlishly at the screens.

"Have you ever read the 'Coffee and Crime' series, Near?" asked L. All three boys nodded. Of course, Light thought, all of the boys would like detective novels if they were anything like their idol. "We have a murderer who is imitating the crimes in these books."

"Even the one with the meat hooks?" Mello asked, wide-eyed. "Cool."

"Very," Light heard himself saying, "Since the victim was found in a meat locker. But that particular one has not been enacted- yet."

"How about the one with the step-ladder and the sledgehammer?" chimed in Matt. Light and L nodded.

"Cool," all three boys chorused. Light suppressed a grin.

"So far there have been three murders," L elaborated, "All done in the manner of the novels. That gives us three more to go, although hopefully we can catch the criminal before this happens. Our prediction is that the next murder will reflect the events of 'Penny for the Guy', so we have until November the 5th to corner our killer, nineteen days from now."

"Can we help?" Matt asked eagerly.

"I will consider making you useful," L replied, and the three faces brightened visibly.

"L, I beat your high score on Resident Evil 4," burst out Matt suddenly. Light could not quite suppress a laugh at the image of the great detective L killing virtual villains with clicks of a games console, and four sets of eyes turned to him as he let loose a very inelegant snort.

"Light-kun?" L prompted.

"Nothing, Ryuuzaki," Light said innocently. "It's just rather Kira-like of you to enjoy the ability to kill with a click."

"I like him," Mello decided firmly, looking appraisingly at Light. "He looks like a cissy, but he's pretty quick on the uptake."

"Light-kun is mistaken," L said calmly to Light, who was wondering whether he had just been paid a compliment or not. "I merely enjoy the satisfaction of leaving my mark on the school in some meaningful way."

"It seems that Matt has managed to erase your 'mark'," Light teased, enjoying being able to rib Ryuuzaki for once.

"Perhaps I will have to re-establish myself," L pondered, thumb creeping to his lower lip. "I cannot have my successors outstripping me."

"Successors?" Light said sharply.

"When I die, one of these three boys in front of me will be the next L," Ryuuzaki elaborated. Light was too astonished at the trust Ryuuzaki showed him in revealing this information to be surprised by the revelation itself. It was almost obvious, once you thought about it. These boys screamed 'child genius' and they clearly all worshipped L.

The congregation moved into a rather impressive gaming room, where L proceeded to battle his wits against Matt's in a very violent-looking game. Light could barely keep track of the blur of their thumbs, Matt's jamming the keys, L's poised delicately above the console, or the rate at which the scores increased. He was not much for computer games, but he could see that both males were incredibly skilled. Mello looked unimpressed, and Near was not even watching, preferring to play with the most elaborate train set Light had ever seen. Finally, Matt sat back with a cry of triumph, and Light gathered he had won by a very small margin.

"I am losing my touch," L remarked ruefully as Matt crowed his victory. "But I believe my record for most chocolate digestives in my mouth at the same time is still intact."

Light tried hard not to imagine this feat, or to be too surprised that L had achieved it. The maturity level in the room seemed to have dropped considerably, and Light was getting a distinct impression of the nature of L's childhood. This is what transpires in a house full of geniuses, Light mused to himself. Then he remembered what L had said about his bags, and promptly dragged Ryuuzaki into the hall, where his bags sat seemingly untouched. An ominously shrill giggle made him doubt his assessment somewhat.

"Dare I look?" he asked Ryuuzaki. L just looked at him, amusement apparent in his face. Peering into the depths of the bag, he caught sight of an unfamiliar item, and plunged his hand in to pull it out. Five seconds later, he found himself holding a long, cylindrical item with a rounded tip. He wasn't sure what it was, but from the howls of suppressed laughter coming from a door to his right, he guessed it was something he would not want to find in his bag.

"This isn't mine," he said flatly, to more muted howls of mirth. "What is it?" He looked at L, who shrugged, also at a loss. Mello strode forwards and yanked it from his grasp.

"It's a dildo," he said disgustedly. "Honestly, the things some of them come up with puts the entire house to shame."

Light didn't want to appear ignorant, so he kept quiet. Whatever it was, he gathered it was a rather crude joke if even Mello and his companions found it so.

"Shall we rescue our bags?" he asked Ryuuzaki. He nodded, and they dragged the remaining bags into L's room. Behind closed doors, Light made for a computer to translate the mysterious word. Upon finding the definition, he went purple.

"Did you know that's what a dildo was?" he asked Ryuuzaki. He peered over Light's shoulder, and his eyes widened a little.

"I hope that was not a reference to this," he said a little faintly, shaking the chain. Light buried his head in his hands. Outside, raucous laughter exploded outside the door.

"We won't be disturbed, huh, Ryuuzaki?" sighed Light.

"Leave it to me," L said mysteriously. "I may have a use for Mello, Matt and Near after all."


	4. How Not To Shower

**Fluff, a teensy bit of plot development and quite a lot of weirdness brought about by the retarded new shower they've installed in my college. Enjoy, and thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and alerted :D**

Peace and quiet reigned. Somewhat ominous quiet, to be sure, but quiet nonetheless, and after almost twelve hours of travelling and three hours of dealing with various hyper, mischief-minded genius children, Light was exhausted. He was lying on L's bed, eyes blissfully closed and arms stretched out on either side. A slight dip on his left hand side disturbed him, and one eye cracked open.

"Gyaaah!" He sat bolt upright and skidded away from L, whose face had been inches from his own, eyes wide and inquisitive, hand poised above Light's hair. "Damn it, Ryuuzaki, what are you doing?"

"I thought Light-kun had fallen asleep," L said shamelessly.

"You watch me sleep?" Light was horrified.

"It's when Light-kun looks the most innocent," L replied. Light knew he should feel creeped out, but he was so use to the detective's idiosyncrasies that it didn't really bother him too much. In fact, he felt mildly... flattered?

"Warn me next time," he instructed his companion. "Besides, I can't sleep. I have twelve hours of travel grime on me. I need a shower."

"As you wish, Light-kun," L said.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of a shower alone?" Light tried. L just blinked. "Fine," he sighed. "I guess any kind of shower is better than no shower."

Light gathered up his towel, shampoo and soap, and allowed L to lead him to the adjoining bathroom.

"This is it?" Light said doubtfully.

"What's wrong?" L asked. "It's quite large, as bathrooms go."

"Yes, it is," Light agreed. "But the shower door is see-through."

"We could go to the communal bathroom," L suggested, "But I thought Light-kun would prefer to use my en-suite. The other bathroom tends to get a little crowded."

Light shuddered at the image, a rather vivid flashback of the high-pitched cackles from earlier playing through his mind, and gave the transparent door another look, as if this might somehow make it more opaque.

"Don't worry, Light-kun. I won't look," assured L. Light blushed hotly at the thought.

"I trust you, Ryuuzaki," he replied. Shrugging out of his shirt and socks, he looked pointedly at L, who just as pointedly placed his laptop on the floor before him. Removing his trousers and pants, Light glanced reflexively behind him. L's mop of inky hair was all that could be seen of him. Trying to forget his presence, he stepped into the shower and looked at the complicated English controls.

Well.

Apparently tests at Wammy's House were not confined to the classroom.

He was Yagami Light, the highest scoring student in the To-Oh University entrance exams. He could figure this out. If he twisted it just _so..._

"Yeowwwww!" he howled, leaping out of the scalding spray and tumbling onto the floor. "Holy shit!"

"Light-kun," L exclaimed in surprise; Light never swore. Light looked round and blushed fiercely, trying to save his severely impaired dignity – and modesty.

"Hot," he explained dimly. L rose and twiddled the multiple dials in the shower until the temperature was presumably just right.

"There you are, Light-kun," he said helpfully.

"Thanks, Ryuuzaki," Light murmured. Still shielding himself from the detective's view, he re-entered the shower, now pleasantly warm, and proceeded to wash and condition his hair, and scrub his skin free from airport grime. Luckily, the steam from the shower obscured the door nicely, and Light almost felt like he was alone until he heard a disembodied voice float from the other end of the chain.

"Do you need help turning it off, Light-kun?"

"Wh- oh, no thanks, Ryuuzaki," Light called back. He looked at the dials again. Right. How was this done again? Perhaps if he twisted this one...

"Graaaaah!" he hollered as the water instantly went icy cold. He fumbled for the door, screeching shrilly as the cold needles assaulted him, and once again tumbled out, dripping, into the outstretched towel that Ryuuzaki was holding.

"English s-showers are trying to m-murder me," he muttered incoherently, shivering violently underneath the fluffy white cloth as Ryuuzaki operated the fearful machine with ease.

"Light-kun is hopeless," said L fondly. "Perhaps I was mistaken as to the standard of his reasoning abilities."

"Unless we're attacked by a s-showerstall, R-Ryuuzaki, I don't think there's m-much to worry about," snapped Light, his mood dampened, quite literally, by the cold water, and the sting in his retort dampened even more by the chattering of his teeth.

"Light-kun is shaking," L observed softly.

"It's c-cold," Light responded defensively.

And then L did something very uncharacteristic. Pulling another towel from the rack, presumably his own, he wrapped it gently around Light's shoulders and began slowly towelling the cold water from Light's hair.

"R-Ryuuzaki," he stuttered, and this time it was not induced by the cold. In fact, he could feel an odd warmth spreading through him at the almost tender attentions from his companion.

"I would not want Light-kun to catch cold," murmured L.

It was almost as if Light could not bring himself to scare L off. The man had so little experience of normal social interactions that he probably had no idea that this action was bordering on crossing certain conventional boundaries. Besides, Light found himself rather enjoying the fleeting, tentative swipes of the soft towel across his soaking hair. His scalp tingled where it touched. He stiffened slightly as it began to move downwards, drying in hesitant pats his neck, his back. He stayed stock still as he felt L's arms wrap around him, and the towel sweeping over his chest. He could feel the warmth of L's body just inches behind him, and the thought sent a hot wave of blood rushing through his veins, and sent a shiver through him which was, again, nothing to do with the cold. He pulled himself reluctantly away, wrapping his own towel around his waist.

"I'm fine, L," he said, his own voice a little softer, a little gentler than usual, not a rebuttal, almost a thank you. Facing the detective, their eyes fixed on each other for a few long moments, and Light once again did not know what to make of the unknown, near invisible emotion he was confronted with. "Let's go back to our room so I can get some fresh clothes."

-

In L's room, Mello, Matt and Near were mercifully still absent; Light had half expected them to be sprawled across the bed rifling through the case notes. He hastily pulled on some fresh clothes as L settled into a chair in his habitual manner, reaching absently for a cookie. Light found himself watching the way L's little pink tongue darted out to swipe a few stray crumbs from his lower lip. L caught the gaze.

"Would Light-kun like a cookie?" he offered politely. Light shook his head, as much to put his thoughts in order as anything else. He was tired and jetlagged and emotionally drained. It was not doing good things to his mental health.

"Are you sure? They are significantly better than their Japanese counterparts," L supplied. Light mustered a smile, and declined again.

"I'm tired, Ryuuzaki," he confessed.

"It's only eight o-clock English time, Light-kun," L pointed out. Light almost groaned. That meant it was about four o'clock in the morning at home.

"Coffee," he muttered. L followed him obediently to the mercifully empty kitchen.

His fourth cup of coffee had the characters on the screen in front of him doing slightly nauseating little jigs, but his eyelids were still too heavy to hold open. Light found his head drooping embarrassingly. He glanced at the clock. It was eleven o'clock English time. Seven in the morning and not a wink of sleep. He wouldn't be surprised if his head thunked onto the desk, scattering his meticulous noted as it fell. He glanced at L; he looked as alert as ever. Damn the little insomniac to Tokyo and back. At least that might make him as jetlagged as Light felt.

Light always prided himself for being astute and in command of any situation, so when he awoke in a comfortable, unfamiliar bed to a thin strip of sunshine peeking through dark curtains, he was disturbed that the last thing he remembered was reading the details of a gruesome murder, nursing the dregs of his thousandth cup of bitter coffee. He felt groggy, as if he had been sleeping for too long, and he rubbed his fists in his eyes to clear them of the remaining tendrils of sleep. Glancing to his left, he saw Ryuuzaki curled tightly in on himself, mouth slightly open, hair in disarray. He was fast asleep. It made Light smile slightly to see the sharp-minded detective completely defenceless and, god forbid, cute. He suddenly saw the appeal in watching somebody sleep. Indulging himself this once, he lay back down and closed his eyes once more, letting the soft breaths from beside him pull him back under. It wasn't often L slept so soundly. Light did not have the heart to wake him.

Some time later Light woke again, drowsily, a faint pressure shaking his shoulder.

"I would let you sleep, Light-kun, but it is past noon, and we have work to do," L's voice spoke low in his ear. Light had more than half a mind to turn on his side and ignore the gentle awakening, but the word noon filled the uptight schoolboy part of mind with horror. He had never slept past ten o'clock in his living memory, except when he was sick.

"Guh," he managed, and struggled to sit up. He felt very reluctant to wake up properly.

"I've never seen Light-kun so sluggish before," L remarked wryly.

"I've never been on a twelve hour flight before," Light retorted irritably. He peered at Ryuuzaki through heavy lids. He was eating cake. Cake sounded disturbingly attractive, another thought that filled him with horror.

"How did you get cake?" he asked, rattling the chain to illustrate his meaning.

"Watari," explained L. "He brought Light-kun some breakfast, too."

Light looked around, and fell upon the fruit salad – suspiciously devoid of strawberries – eagerly. He felt immediately better.

"I needed that," he confessed. "Travelling doesn't agree with me."

"Apparently not," L mused.

"Well? What work do we have to do today?" asked Light. L passed him a pile of paper.

"Murder scenes," he explained.

"Oh, good," Light muttered. A little death and corpse action to get him out of bed. "I need a shower first," he added.

"If I didn't know better, I would almost think Light-kun liked taking his clothes off in front of me," L mused. Light's cheeks went pink.

-

"Well? What does Light-kun make of this?" L enquired, looking across at Light from his position on the floor. Light himself was more reserved about stepping into the room; the entire floor was sticky with dried blood.

"Somebody is very sick," he said tightly. "Nobody needs to make this much mess."

"Correct," L replied. "This is a theatrical set-up. The murderer took time in creating a perfect replica of the scene described in the novel."

"You know, Jen Ainswright used to be one of my favourite authors," Light joked feebly. L smiled slightly.

"She did not commit the murder, just conceptualised it," L reminded him. A thought struck Light.

"We need to talk to her," he told Ryuuzaki. "Obviously the case is closely connected to her. Perhaps a fan, or a stalker, somebody she knows?"

"Perhaps," L considered. "She lives only a few miles away. I can drive us-"

"No," Light said quickly. He never wanted to experience L's driving again. Light had thought that L's technique was slightly overzealous, but had been willing to trust him until about half way to their destination, when L had asked him what the pedal in the middle was for. It had frightened Light enough to insist on switching places with him despite the fact he was not licensed to drive outside of Japan.

"I understand the concept of a brake, now, Light-kun," L said, looking slightly hurt.

"You've never driven before, Ryuuzaki," Light protested.

"I have now," L contradicted. "Light-kun does not have a licence."

"Nor do you," Light returned pointedly.

"But I have many connections in England, which are tantamount to diplomatic immunity," L countered.

"Between the two of us," Light said firmly. "I am more qualified to drive than you."

"Light-kun is being stubborn," L pouted.

"Ryuuzaki is being stubborn," Light imitated facetiously. They faced each other for a few moments, unblinking. It was almost... flirtatious? Light swiftly looked away.

"I'm driving, Ryuuzaki," he repeated. "I'll break the law to save you from yourself."

"Very well, Light-kun. If you think that I am worth it."

Light was almost sure that L had just made a joke. The end of the Kira case had apparently brought with it a whole new side of him. Light found himself rather enjoying it.

**I promise more ingenious (well not really) plot soon. Also a lot more fluff and stupidity. Please tell me what you are liking or hating. Frozenpixie without reviews is like L without cake. **


	5. Innocence Means Guilt

**Thanks as always for all the lovely reviews etc., they really do make my day. I'll try and keep my updates regular, but seriously, they're trying to KILL me with work right now. 3 supervisions in one week in exam term shouldn't even be legal, plus I'm going away this weekend. So yeah, I'll try. A teeny bit of L/Light here if you squint, there should be more in the next chapter. Some more plot development in this chapter, but if any of you can work out what I'm planning yet either you deserve medals or I deserve a smack for being dimwitted and obvious. Feel free to guess, though. Anyways, enjoy.**

Safely in one piece, L and Light arrived at Jen Ainswright's house, a large property with a swept gravel drive and bay windows which had Light staring wistfully and resisting the urge to make strange whimpering noises. It was south of Winchester, only a few miles from the sea, and if Light could choose a place to live, this would be it. Handsome, roomy and picturesque, the effect was only slightly spoiled by the half-painted side-wall and small collection of sheets, brushes and white paint cans cluttering one side of the pristine house.

His positive assessment was reinforced when the door was opened by a petite, dark-haired woman of no more than twenty-five, who introduced herself as Jen Ainswright and invited them inside for tea and cake. L looked as if he wanted to kiss her just for this offer, and Light had to admit, the prospect was not displeasing. Her hair was a glossy brown, almost black, but with chocolaty undertones, and cut into a swaying bob which mesmerised Light. Her eyes were bright blue and fresh, and her smile was genuine and sweet. She was a lot shorter than Light, not above five foot two, and her simple printed frock showed off her slim but curvy figure. Light, who rarely noticed attractive women - Misa was a testament to that - was finding it difficult to tear his eyes away.

"I have chocolate, coconut and raspberry or coffee and walnut," she offered, bringing in the most cake-laden tray Light had ever seen – and he was handcuffed to L. L, who with no qualms whatsoever, took a generous slice of all three and commenced the inhalation process. Light smiled apologetically, but Jen – Miss Ainswright, he meant, did not seem at all affronted.

"I like my cooking to be appreciated," she commented lightly. Her voice was just as pleasant as the rest of her. Light decided he liked the British accent. "Would you like anything?" Light, never a great cake-eater, found himself accepting a slice of coffee cake through sheer force of charm.

"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Ainswright," he apologised, "But Ryuuzaki and I are investigating a case which we're sure is connected with your novels. Would it be possible to ask you a few questions, if you're not too busy?"

"She's a witness and a suspect, Light-kun," cut in L through his second slice of cake. "You do not need to ask so politely." Light looked at his companion in astonishment. L was brusque, yes, but never downright rude. His rapt expression at the sea of cake had vanished, replaced by his more accustomed calculating intelligence.

"It's fine, I'm not busy," smiled Jen - no, Miss Ainswright - unruffled. "And please call me Jen, Light-kun."

"Just Light is fine," Light corrected bashfully. "Only Ryuuzaki insists on the honorific."

"Of course, Light," Jen smiled charmingly at him. "What a beautiful name." Light felt his cheeks colouring, and he cleared his throat. This was unlike him. It was usually him who did the charming, not the other way around. Soon he would drop his spoon or knock his coffee cup over. He needed to get a grip.

"You're a detective writer, so I won't insult you by sugar-coating it," he told her, passing her a couple of crime scene photographs. "All the murders correspond to episodes written in your novels."

As she reached out to claim the pictures, Light noticed a fading mark on her wrist, the mottled purple staining her creamy skin. Delicate, like a bruised peach, he found himself thinking.

As he had expected, Jen looked calmly at the grisly images before passing them back.

"It makes me regret allowing my imagination to get the better of me," she said gravely.

"Nobody's blaming you," Light said quickly as L looked as if he was about to agree, despite the fact that they had both been of the opposite opinions earlier. "We just want to know if you've had any stalkers or threats, anything like that to give us something to work with."

"And an alibi," L interjected belligerently. "Light-kun may be flattered by your smiles and your cake, but to me it makes you at least 5% more suspicious."

"Ryuuzaki," Light scolded again. "What's gotten into you? You never treated me this harshly when you suspected me."

"I still do suspect you, Light-kun," L replied brutally.

"Then why are you letting me help investigate?" Light shot back.

"Perhaps I am merely pretending to trust Light-kun?"

"I don't believe you."

"Clearly Light-kun's judgements are easily warped by a pretty face."

"Are you saying you have a pretty face, Ryuuzaki? Because clearly I was wrong when I judged you to be reasonable."

"I was not referring to our relationship. Light-kun jumped to that conclusion all on his own."

They were on their feet now, squaring up to each other. Light's right fist was twitching, and he saw L's foot shifting in preparation, too. It would have been another hotel-room incident if Jan had not intervened swiftly.

"Look, I didn't mean to get in between you two," she said quickly. "And I didn't mean to be overly friendly. That's just my way. I'll help you with your investigation, but please don't tear my house apart."

"My apologies," Light said, eyeing L warily as he sat back down, pulling the chain with unnecessary but satisfying force. "We are behaving unacceptably."

L sat down with a muttered "speak for yourself" and took a ferocious bite of cake.

"Well, Mr Ryuuzaki," Jen addressed L, "I can supply you with alibis if you can tell me when you would like them for, although I do spend a great deal of time alone at home or on the beach, so I may not be watertight."

L nodded to Light, who quickly recited the times and places of the deceased. It transpired that Jen had been in Devon for a week's holiday from July 13th to 20th, freeing her of suspicion for the first murder, which had taken place on the 15th in London. The third murder, a week ago, she had been visiting her parents. The second murder, however, on September 12th in Southampton, she had been at home writing, and the only evidence she could supply was her computer history, and L pointed out that she could have taken her laptop to Southampton with her and purposely kept it running in a hotel room whilst she committed the murder.

"Or," he added darkly, "you could have hired somebody else to carry out the murders for you."

"True," she admitted, unruffled by the harsh cross-examination L had subjected her to, Light attempting to play Good Cop from the sidelines. "And if I were committing a series of murders based on my own books – speaking as someone who often has to put herself into a murderer's mindset – I would probably not commit them myself. But I'm not the sort of author with contacts in the underworld. I get my inspiration from inside my own head, and the only motive for me to copycat my own novels would be for popularity, or notoriety, and not to sound arrogant, but I hardly need that. I'm well known already, and I prefer a private life."

"I've never seen your face on the internet or your dust-jackets," Light interjected. "I think it's fair to say that few people know your face, although your name is famous. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Jen agreed. "I suppose that would make it easier for me to commit crimes anonymously, wouldn't it?"

"I wasn't accusing you," Light contradicted. "It's just that, er, stalkers might be attracted to your looks as well as your novels, and if your identity is something you are relatively secretive about, then that could be a motive for the crimes; a stalker may have built a mystery up around your person, and could even be trying to impress you with his re-enactments."

"Light-kun has a point," L agreed grudgingly. "Although Miss Ainswright would find it easier to move anonymously if her face is unfamiliar." L smiled to himself; his own anonymous identity allowed him freedom to travel without legions of rabid fans or, more probably, assassins following him around.

"If I might," Jen offered, "I have received some hate mail as well as fan letters. I keep every piece I receive, for reference, mostly, because being a detective writer makes one somewhat paranoid. "If you'd like to take a look, or fingerprint them, although I assume the scenes were all clean?"

"In that sense, at least," Light replied. "If you could, that would be very useful."

Jen left the room, and Light tried not to look at L, who was gazing unwaveringly at him.

"What?" he said finally.

"You like this woman, Light-kun," L replied. It was a statement rather than a question. L tried not to blush.

"She's smart," he shrugged. "I'd expect nothing else from a detective writer of her calibre. She knows exactly what to look for. Her insight could really help us on the case."

"I don't trust her," L said, his voice flat. "Nobody offers three types of cake unless they know that their guest is me."

"She was being nice," Light protested. "You can't suspect her because of cake."

"She's too innocent," L persisted. "People are only this open if they have something to hide. And she purposely left one weak alibi since three strong alibis would make her look even more suspicious. I believe if we looked closer, her alibi would somehow become foolproof."

"Doesn't that make her innocent?" Light protested.

"No," said L perversely. "It makes her suspicious. And for someone so keen on privacy, she does not appear particularly antisocial. On the contrary, she has tried very hard to charm us, and was prepared for guests."

"Or she likes baking," Light stated. "All right, looking at this objectively she is a suspect, but we can't lose sight of other likelihoods."

"Yes, Light-kun. I am 95% sure we will receive some very promising leads in these letters," L agreed.

"Which will make you suspect her even more?" Light sighed, catching the dismissive note in Ryuuzaki's voice.

"Of course," L grinned wickedly. Light thanked his lucky stars he was not Kira; it would be nearly impossible to outwit someone as suspicious as L. But Light strongly suspected that something else was also fuelling L's hostility to Jen.

"It could be helpful to get closer to her," he offered up innocently. "For the sake of the case."

"You are transparent, Light-kun," L said flatly. "You wish to see if I am jealous that you find Jen-chan attractive."

"Are you?" Light decided not to beat about the bush.

"That if for Light-kun to decide," L said enigmatically. Light sighed. Getting information out of L was harder than shaving your chin with your feet in an earthquake. Not that he had ever tried.

"So I can't go out with her, then?" Light asked, pretending to sound downcast.

"No," L replied, a little too decisively. Light suppressed a smirk. Perhaps not quite so difficult as all that.

"I have the letters," Jen exclaimed, pushing through the doorway with her hip as she struggled with a large box. Light got up to help her, only to be jerked back by the chain; L had refused to move.

"Eyes back in your head, Light-kun," L murmured in Japanese. All right, perhaps he was easy to read.

"I was being a gentleman. You don't have to jump to conclusions," he replied in his native tongue.

"Gentlemen don't stare quite so hard when ladies open doors with their hips," L responded dryly.

"Use your detective skills for something more productive than watching where my eyes go," Light snipped back.

"Ahem," Jen interrupted. Both men looked at her. She had a very knowing look in her eyes. Light wondered if she understood what they were saying, or if they just looked faintly like a bickering couple. He grimaced at the thought.

"Letters," Jen prompted, cutting into Light's musings.

"Thank you, Miss Ainswright. We will take them back with us," L said.

"If that's all right?" Light added politely. Jen flashed him a lovely smile.

"Of course," she said warmly. "If I can do anything else to help, let me know."

"We'll be in touch," promised Light.

"Ah- I'll give you my mobile number," Jen offered, blushing slightly. "In case I'm out."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Light smiled gallantly. L scowled, and snatched the proffered post-it, giving Light a rather dirty look.

"Come, Light-kun," he said firmly. Light allowed himself to be tugged insistently from the room, offering a last smile to Jen, who raised her eyes suggestively. Light blushed. From being in with a chance with a pretty young detective novelist, she was now under the impression that he and L were some sort of item. How humiliating; he was obviously losing his touch with women.


	6. Blindsided

**Yay! An update earlier than I promised some of you, and way earlier than I expected I would manage since I felt so rubbish after three and a half hours on a coach that I didn't feel up to work, so I had time to do some writing instead. My degree can kick me in the ass later for my laziness, but in my defence, I can't remember ever feeling this rough. That said, the ball was awesome and totally worth the extreme pain my feet are now in. So win some, lose some, I guess. Anyway, this chapter came from my slightly spaced-out brain, absolutely NO plot in this one, but I laughed reading it back, so I hope you like it too. Please review and tell me what you think :)**

Light wondered if there was something about the English air playing havoc with his hormones. As he drove them back to Wammy's House in the twilight, he found himself noticing the funny little gesture which had L worrying his bottom lip with his thumb, and finding it far too endearing coming from a man who had spent the afternoon ruthlessly browbeating a witness whilst shamelessly guzzling her cake. L bit down on a hangnail and chewed at it contentedly. Light's mouth watered. Yes, there was definitely something wrong with him. He turned his attention back to the road.

When they arrived back at the orphanage, L made directly for the kitchen to pull out one of the many cake boxes he had stashed in the cupboard. Light was surprised that they were still there, but maybe L was respected enough that everyone accepted any cake was automatically his. That was, until L lifted the lid, and pulled out a single sliver of paper. Wordlessly, he showed it to Light. It read, 'IOU'. Unsurprisingly, there was no signature.

"I have been away for too long, Light-kun," L reflected mournfully. "I should have anticipated this eventuality." Light felt a tug at his heart at L's dejected expression, despite the fact that the detective had consumed enough cake already today to last any normal person at least a week.

"Let's go out for dinner," he offered before his brain could wave the list of reasons why this was a bad idea in front of his nose.

"Can I eat two desserts instead of a main course?" L asked cautiously; Watari always made sure he ate something wholesome at mealtimes.

"Yes," Light conceded.

"Then I am in agreement, Light-kun," L decided happily.

A small Italian restaurant was their chosen destination, and L lost no time in ordering an array of sweets whilst Light chose a slightly less nauseating combination of pasta and fresh bread. His disparaging comments about L's choice were shortlived, however, once he found himself required to get to grips with a fork and some very slippery spaghetti. It was all he could do not to splash tomato sauce over his crisp white shirt, and in the time it took for L to consume a tiramisu slice, several profiteroles and three scoops of chocolate and pistachio ice cream, he had only managed about three bites. He was far too proud, however, to lower himself to Ryuuzaki's eating standards; the man was currently chasing a few stray drops of ice cream around the bottom of the dish with his finger. Actually, Light found the way his lips closed around the chocolate-stained finger rather attractive. L chose this moment to look up and catch his eye. The finger came out of his mouth with a faint pop. Light turned his eyes hurriedly to his own meal, twirling the offending strands around his fork, endeavouring fruitlessly to keep them from sliding down to the base or back onto the plate in a tiny fountain of sauce.

"Light-kun can eat rice with chopsticks, but he has difficulty with spaghetti?" L asked innocently. Light glanced up to see a slightly devious expression on L's face.

"It's slippery," he explained helplessly. To his surprise, L leaned forwards and plucked the fork deftly from his hands, expertly scooping up a perfect mouthful of Light's meal with inhuman skill. He offered the fork to Light, whose mouth was already open in astonishment. After staring for a few seconds, Light realised his intentions, and how it would look to everyone else in the restaurant. But damn it, he was hungry, and L's eyes held a hint of challenge. He gently took the proffered mouthful, meeting L's eyes boldly as he slid his lips over the silver prongs, darting his tongue out to fold in one wayward strand. L was watching intently, and as he unconsciously licked his own lips, Light felt heat spreading through his body. This time, he blamed it on the candlelight, which made L's eyes glitter alluringly, and turned his pale skin a creamy peach.

Light allowed his companion to silently feed him the rest of his meal, far too lost in L's intense expression, and in the tiny, mesmerising nuances of his own lips as Light's repeatedly captured the proffered bites of spaghetti to feel foolish or childlike. It was only when L gently brushed his lips with a napkin, and he caught that faint scent of chocolate and strawberry, that Light realised that L, _L, _had just fed him, mouthful by mouthful, in a crowded restaurant. And even then, the brief pause, the lingering, butterfly touch of fingers against his moist lips, sent a shudder through him which made him cease to care about their surroundings, or who it was opposite him making him feel so warm and cold and tingly. Light was positive that in L's eyes, he could see a mirror of his own thoughts. Apart from the fact that he was sure the word 'tingly' was not in L's vocabulary, and he was reconsidering its position in his own, despite its obnoxious accuracy.

"Does Light-kun want dessert?" L asked him softly. Light had never known someone sound so horribly suggestive before, and found himself yet again reconsidering L's use of the English language, and whether it should be banned. Nevertheless, the words, dripping with cheesy double-entendre, made Light's throat thick enough that he could do no more than shake his head. He swiped a waiter wordlessly as he went past.

"Bill, please," he rasped.

It was a silent walk back to the car, the loudest silence Light had ever experienced and, keys in the ignition, Light could still feel the heavy tension lying in the air around them. He half-glanced at L.

And inhaled sharply as the detective's lips swooped in and caught his own for one, two, three seconds, and then began to move, hot and imploring, over his. He only jerked back to life as he felt a moist tongue dart out and trail across his lower lip. The sensation caused a jolt of electricity to ricochet through him, bouncing off every nerve ending he possessed and coming to a halt somewhere around his midriff, where it began to set up house with a myriad of inexplicable butterflies. So preoccupied was he with this that he did not even register his traitorous lips as they began to move against L's.

It had never been like this with Misa. True, the hot, slick friction of flesh against flesh had been the same, but it had never felt like this. Never had the heat prickled and flashed across his skin. Never had his mind soared quite so high. Never before had his hands buried themselves in feathery, thick tufts of hair and clenched tightly without his brain's permission.

They broke apart gasping for breath, in hot, heavy pants, and for once Light knew that his eyes must be as dark and intense as Ryuuzaki's were.

"L," he breathed, and the single letter drew them together again for another deep, passionate exploration of something so inexorably wrong and so incredibly, divinely right. This time, Light completely disengaged his brain and let his senses take over, letting his tongue do his thinking for him. Apparently, it was just as eloquent in its motions as it was in speech. Not that he could have strung two words together at this particular moment. If he allowed his vocal cords the same liberties as his tongue, they would not be latent by any means, but it would not be words mingling with the hot, heavy air around the two men.

Slowly this time, the kiss drifted to a close, and L pressed one more sweet, brief butterfly kiss against Light's mouth as they pulled reluctantly away. Sanity drifting slowly back down from wherever he had tossed it, Light tried to come up with something to say to break the extreme awkwardness of the situation. He had, technically, just taken part in an extreme make-out session with the three best detectives in the world. Whilst thankfully this only constituted a single person, it was a potentially diabetic, near-insomniac, paranoid control-freak person. Who was a man. To whom he was currently handcuffed. By whom he was suspected to be a mass-murderer. Way to complicate matters.

"How long have you wanted to do that?" he gasped eventually, since his brain was only granting him access to the most inane level of questions. L gave him the sexiest look ever to be given this side of the universe.

"Since I first began to investigate Light-kun," he replied, sounding suitably breathless himself.

"I've never kissed another man before," Light said absently. Clearly his brain was still misfiring.

"Nor have I, Light-kun," L remarked.

"I mean, I've never felt like that about another guy before," Light carried on, regardless of his better judgement, which was probably huddled desolately at the bottom of his discarded spaghetti plate back in the restaurant. Or had possibly fled back to Japan.

"Felt how, Light-kun?" L asked.

"Like... _that_." Light waved his hands vaguely. "Attracted in that way. I mean, I'm not gay..."

"But I am still satisfied that it will not be Jen-chan that Light-kun goes to sleep thinking about," L interjected mischievously. Light blinked.

"You cunning little..." he exclaimed. L gave a swift, devious smile.

"Light-kun looks adorable when he is mad," he teased. Light smiled exasperatedly.

"I don't believe you ever thought _I_ was evil," he muttered under his breath as he turned the ignition – finally – and pulled out of the parking space.

L was not wrong in thinking that Light would go to sleep thinking about the kiss that night. In fact, Light could think of nothing else, although his analytical mind drained some of the pleasure out of the memory and replaced it with uncertainty, confusion and anxiety. It was certainly unnerving to realise he felt a strong physical attraction to another man. He had always been fascinated by L, attracted to his mind, his intelligence. They had always got on far better than Light remembered getting on with anyone on a truly understanding level. With Misa, although Light usually found it easy (if occasionally dull) to converse with her, he could never be himself in the same way he could with Ryuuzaki. He recalled the bemused looks his father always gave the two of them when a general argument somehow turned into an individual repartee between the two young detectives. Light understood that. It was the fact that this attraction of two like minds had somehow taken a turn for the more carnal aspects of admiration and desire which had him stumped.

Thinking hard about when this had begun, he had to tie it in with the point where he had no longer become a serious suspect for the Kira case. L, although still as obtuse as ever in some respects, had somehow begun to be more familiar, more human, opening himself up a little more so that the intellectual discussions they often had took a more teasing tone, bordering on the flirtatious in some cases. Which really meant, Light thought to himself, this was all L's fault. Perhaps L's assertions that Light was Kira had been the detective's own way of distancing himself from his feelings? It was a possibility. But then, what on earth had L been thinking chaining them together? That was just asking for kinky suggestions to be made. Although, considering the way L thought, perhaps this was partly to acclimatise Light to the idea of the two of them _like that._ Unfortunately, Ryuuzaki's plans were almost always effective. Light was all too receptive to the concept.

But he was not gay. No, this was a one-off. Just because it was L. He still found Jen Ainswright attractive, didn't he? Oh yes, she was definitely att- and something very unpleasant hit Light full on the forehead, accompanied by a disagreeable leer from his subconscious, which enjoyed saving up for moments like this and cashing in all its mental torture chips at once. Dark, bobbed hair. Slim figure. Intelligent detective mind. Liking for cake. Oh no. Jen Ainswright was a female L. Light almost facepalmed. His subconscious sniggered obnoxiously.

**OOC? Probably. Fun to write? Definitely. Reviews? Hopefully...**


	7. Letters From Somebody

**Thanks for the reviews you've been feeding me, they are like sunshine and rainbows. Or something. I like them, anyway. Please can I have some more? Hope you like this chapter. I was going to give you a HUGE cliffhanger at the end, but I added another scene inbetween, which sort of sucks because it went so well there, but it has to be there for the sake of the stupid plot. So no cliffie yet. But I did drop in a few hints about the case and some more lovely Wammy's boys bits and bobs, cos I love them. And a bit more L/Light action, hehe. Ok, anyway, read, enjoy, review. In that order.**

"You two," came a slightly acerbic voice from somewhere above Light's head, "look far two comfy for two men tied together."

Light cracked open his eyes, and saw the slightly triumphant looking Mello standing brazenly at the foot of the bed, surveying the two of them. He glanced at L. He was snuggled into Light's side, still fast asleep, and snuffling slightly into Light's shoulder. That was definitely not how they had fallen asleep. Light scrambled quickly out of bed, to appreciative sniggers from Mello and Matt, who had been lurking in the doorway.

"Near told us to leave you alone," said Mello frankly, "but I knew you'd never admit it unless we caught you at it. The chain isn't just cos he's a suspect, right?"

"I've been meaning to ask about that myself," Light said absently, rubbing the heel of his hand against his arm and peering down at Ryuuzaki, whose eyes had fluttered open at Light's sudden movements.

"Are you suggesting the only way I could be successful with a cute man is to chain him to me?" L asked resentfully. Mello raised his eyebrows in a look that said _yes, yes I am_ as plain as day.

"Did you want something?" Light prompted after a few seconds of staring, carefully ignoring the 'cute' comment and filing it away for a quiet hyperventilation session later on.

"Oh, yeah, Watari sent us to tell the two of you he's looking at the other two scenes since you both need to look through the letters," Mello rattled off. "Actually, he sent Near, but he was too chicken to go in when he saw the two of you snuggling so me and Matt came."

"Matt and I," Light corrected automatically, practising his newly acquired skill of selective hearing. "And I'm guessing you didn't have the same problem invading somebody's privacy?"

"Nope," Matt said cheerily. "Just be thankful it was us and not Linda's lot."

"They're like us without the looks, charm or intelligence," Near put in, his white head bobbing around the door, his wide-eyed innocence uncannily similar to L's. Apparently he thought it safe to venture forth once Mello had already broken the ice.

"Which one is supposed to have which?" asked Light smoothly.

"Light-kun has spent too much time around these three already," L interjected blithely. "He himself used to possess all three."

Light spun around, looking hurt, whilst the three teenagers laughed ruthlessly at his misfortune.

"He's insulting you, too, you know," he pointed out to them. They ignored him completely. Apparently two could play at that little game.

"For your information, Mello, the only person Light-kun harbours romantic feelings towards is the main suspect of our current case," L lied easily, masterfully throwing the rabid teenagers a blackmail chip and causing Light acute embarrassment whilst conveniently neglecting to incriminate himself. Bastard. "Perhaps criminal minds attract like?"

"How many times do I have to prove I'm not Kira before you believe me?" Light sighed. L ignored him. Damn it, three could play. Light was running out of counters.

"Can we see the letters?" Near asked directly; he had crept into the main room and was sitting on the floor arranging L's stuffed animals, which had scattered to the floor as the two men slept, into groups of species. Light kept an eye out for how he would categorise the strangely deformed pink thing which looked like a cross between an octopus and a pterodactyl.

"Yes," L decided. "There are quite a few. It would be useful to have your input."

The boys all looked delighted, and Light sighed internally at the prospect of being in their challenging company for the better part of the day. He was not sure how much more ribbing he could take before his insides fell out in a heap on his spotless socks. Once sufficient cake had been procured, the five of them sat on bed (Matt), chairs (L and Light), desk (Mello) and floor (Near) with a heap of letters, looking through to find a hint of their copycat murderer.

"Listen to this one," Matt piped up half an hour into their search. "'Dear Jen, I love your books, and I want to know if Zach Corner would be willing to consider going out to dinner with me? Lots of love, your number one fan Danielle Walker.' Jeez, what a psycho. She does know he's a character in a book, right?"

"As insightful as that is, Matt, I think it unlikely that it has any relevance to the case," L remarked, picking up yet another letter between thumb and forefinger and studying it with a look which seemed to insinuate it had done him some singular and particularly disgusting ill in the recent past.

"Just saying," Matt shrugged, unabashed.

"How about this one?" Near asked, offering a letter written on torn-out notepaper up for inspection. L took it, and an impish smile spread across his face.

"Almost exactly what I expected," he said smugly. "'Your murders inspired me, they are like works of art' .... 'art like this needs to be shown to the world, as does your pretty face'. Yes, this is ideal."

"You think it's a plant." Light stated.

"Naturally," L acknowledged. "The profile of the letter-writer is classic cult imitation material, exactly the type of thing I as an intelligent detective or detective novelist would write as a cover story. No real name, no return address and everyday paper and pen all make it nearly untraceable. Besides, the leading comment about her 'pretty face' is designed to give us a false lead; the number of people familiar with her face are, by her own account, very few. It seems, as they say, that the plot thickens."

"You know that would have sounded much more impressive if you weren't still wearing pyjamas with little pictures of teddy bears on them," Mello chimed in helpfully. Light tried not to smile. Although his pyjamas were a more sober black, he was not in much of a position to comment.

"It was not said for shock value, Mello," L replied gravely. "It is merely the truth."

"Or," Light contradicted, passing L another letter, "It could be a decoy sent by the real criminal to mislead us."

"Light-kun thinks this is the real criminal?" L considered, scanning the letter Light had passed him. "I see."

"What?" Mello asked, hand twitching, obviously only just restraining himself from grabbing the gingerly held letter. "What does it say?"

"It appears to contain hints about the second murder," L said cautiously. "I expect that we will find similar letters about the first and third murders, and possibly the three as yet uncommitted murders."

The letter was passed around, and the five of them burrowed through the remaining letters for further clues. An hour later, four letters were on the table in front of them; three in the same hand and referring to the three murders which had already been committed, and the one letter Near had uncovered making more blatant allusions to the crimes.

"Well?" Light asked L, who was hovering on his chair, thumb captured firmly between his lips, eyes blank obsidian with the merest hint of stormy grey. "The writing isn't the same in the first letter as the other three, and all four are written on different materials."

"I think we'll find," L said, "that these three letters are all written on material taken from the victims' person or from the corresponding crime scene. The first one is written on a memo from the office of the victim. The second is written on pages torn from a notebook which the victim had on his person. The third is on the inside of the label of a paint can which was found at the scene. I wonder how Miss Ainswright failed to notice this third one; it must be unusual to receive letter written on such material."

"One of the letters I read said the person enclosed a pair of panties," Matt said baldly.

"Perhaps not," L reconsidered.

"Did you find the panties?" Mello asked curiously. Matt shook his head in a manner which made it clear that he had spared no effort in looking.

"Light-kun?" L asked casually, not looking up from the letters.

"What is it, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked.

"I think it might not be such a bad idea for Light-kun to get close to Jen-chan after all," L continued, reaching over to take a chocolate from the box to his right.

"What?" Light asked, surprised. "Why?"

"At least one of these is a fake," L pondered. "But I cannot decide which. I am 83% sure Miss Ainswright forged one herself. The first one is very obvious, but the second ones are far more incriminating. If I am correct in my assumption that Miss Ainswright is the murderer, or more accurately complicit in the murders, then the second three are either to prove she could not be, since she has alibis for the crime scenes, or they were created to mislead us."

"Is there any third option which means she could be innocent?" Light asked in slight exasperation. Ryuuzaki really did play favourites with his suspects.

"Yes, but it is not nearly as interesting," L said dismissively, "The letters are all real and the second set is from the murderer. There is only a 23% chance that this is the case."

"What makes you say that?" Near asked, looking intently at L.

"I really want the murderer to be Miss Ainswright," L said frankly.

"But shouldn't we follow up all the leads?" Light prompted. "It's not like we don't have the time."

"That is true," L acknowledged. "But currently I wish to compare these materials with materials at the scene."

"If Jen did the murders," Light said reluctantly, speaking L's thoughts out loud, "She must have had access to the materials or the murder scenes beforehand."

"And she probably already has whatever she is planning on writing the fourth letter on," chimed in Mello, looking pleased with himself.

"Perhaps," said L repressively.

"Working on this assumption," Light ventured, "We can probably work out what the next letter will be written on and search her house."

"First we should test the theory, Light-kun," L decided. "I will call Watari and ask him to take samples. Light-kun, I think you ought to call Jen-chan and arrange a date."

"No problem," Light said, pulling out his phone. Matt and Mello were both smirking behind their hands.

"Thank you, you have been very helpful," L told them. His tone was an obvious dismissal, and the three teens skulked out of the room. Light noticed the pink octo-dactyl had been placed reverently in the centre of the little groups of stuffing-filled species. He was somewhat relieved to learn that the thing had defied category.

"L," he began hesitantly. "This 'date' with Jen – it is only for the case." He wasn't quite sure why he was justifying himself to the detective. It wasn't like they were... actually, what was it like? He had no idea.

"I am aware of that, Light-kun," L smiled faintly. "But Light-kun is very charming, and he is our best chance of getting information from our suspect."

"What if I have to kiss her to make her believe I'm in earnest?" Light persisted, aware that he was picking a hole in something possibly best left alone.

"I trust Light-kun to make his own judgements," L replied calmly. His poker-face had apparently improved considerably since the day before.

"You're so sure of yourself, Ryuuzaki," Light sighed. L only grinned briefly and commenced dialling for Watari. He raised the phone to his ear, then paused. "Ryuuzaki?" he asked.

"What is it, Light-kun?" L replied through a mouthful of chocolate.

"If I'm going to go on a date, that means you have to remove the handcuffs," Light pointed out.

"I had already anticipated that eventuality," L acknowledged nonchalantly.

"Really?" Light asked eagerly. "I'm not a suspect anymore?"

"I do not think that Kira would have let me feed him spaghetti under any circumstances," L deadpanned. Light could not work out if he was teasing him or not, but he didn't really care. This meant that L trusted him, and the warm bubble of happiness was spreading through him like the octo-dactyl's fuzzy pink tentacles. He grinned foolishly at the detective, whose own expression was bordering on soppy.

"Of course I will bug Light-kun for the duration of the date," L stated, breaking the tender atmosphere.

"I never had you down as the jealous type, Ryuuzaki," Light teased.

"On the contrary, I am very possessive," L said lightly. "I do not like to lose."

"Well I knew that much," muttered Light, rubbing at his still-handcuffed wrist. "Are you going to unlock me, then? I can finally change out of my pyjamas."

"Very well, Light-kun," L replied. "If being tied to me is so unappealing."

"I wouldn't say unappealing," Light contradicted at the dejected note in L's voice. "I'd just rather like to be able to take my shirt off. No, that's not what I mean, either," he said hurriedly as L's face began to light up. "I meant," he corrected carefully, "that it will be nice to be able to move about without reference to another person."

"The first answer sounded more promising," noted L regretfully. "Nevertheless, I will remove the chain. Come here, Light-kun."

There was a certain mischievous glint in L's eyes as he made the seemingly innocent request, and Light was slightly cautious as he moved closer to the crouching detective. Seemingly out of nowhere, he withdrew a small silver key. Light, who had been watching carefully, had a strong suspicion that he had palmed it earlier under the pretence of reaching for a chocolate, which meant that L had stashed it in the one thing Light would never go near; L's candy supply. Devious. He held out his wrist, and L's cool fingers closed around it.

Light let out a gasp as he was tugged roughly on top of the detective, causing them both to fall out of their chairs. Before he could react, two long-fingered hands threaded through his hair and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. Oh yes, Light definitely had the hots for L, there was no doubt that this was the single sexiest thing that had ever happened to him, and he had dated a model with a penchant for frills and black lace.

It was rather anticlimactic when L ended their kiss as abruptly as he had begun it, hopped out from underneath Light and clicked the chain open with no further ceremony.

"There you go, Light-kun," he said innocently, and popped a chocolate into his mouth. Light lay on the floor sputtering for a few moments before getting up and brushing himself off casually as if nothing untoward had happened; two could play at this game, too. But in this case hopefully not three.

"I'll take a shower, then," he said aloud in a moderate impression of normal.

"As you please, Light-kun," L said disinterestedly.

Slightly disappointed, Light padded towards the bathroom and shut the door. The detective would undoubtedly be the death of him. Or his dignity, at least, and that was more important than life itself.


	8. Date

**To be perfectly honest I rammed it in as an afterthought because the plot needed a bit of padding out. Although I'm pleased with the chapter on reading it back and I think it adds quite a bit to both the L/Light relationship and to the case story, it does cause one minor problem. You might be able to tell the bit at the end originally belonged to the previous chapter, where it sat a lot better, in my opinion, but it can't be helped. I hope you enjoy anyway, and I'll get the next chapter out as soon as it starts making sense. Waah, it's so hard to write! Ok, enjoy, chickens, and please review, it makes my day.**

Light felt surprisingly self-conscious as he walked along the deserted beach with Jen Ainswright, whose simple shorts and sandals served to make her look casual and elegant. The breeze ruffled her hair enthusiastically, causing it to take on a disturbing resemblance to the birds' nest in which Light's fingers had so recently been pleasurably buried. This was ridiculous. If there was one thing Yagami Light could do, it was to charm women. And since there were few things Light could not do, this was a very generous recommendation. So why was it that for some reason he could not decide what would aid his investigation the most; pretending she was L, or trying and erase all resemblances to the flyaway detective from his frontal lobe with sulphuric acid and concentrating on the very pretty woman before him. For some reason, the former seemed more attractive; imagining L's dark-rimmed eyes peering out at him from under sooty lashes made Light's heart invent its own version of the internal tango. Or possibly a mamba.

But ridiculous comparatives were getting him nowhere. Firmly ignoring his rebellious insides, he pulled out the famous Yagami smile, carefully selected the appropriate wattage, and aimed it in the direction of his petite, not at all L-like companion.

"I don't believe you don't come to this beach more often," he said inanely. "It's absolutely beautiful, and you have it all to yourself."

"Oh, well, you know," Jen said deprecatingly. "I don't usually have the time."

"I'm glad you decided to make some for me," Light flattered. Jen blushed, and Light's insides snidely delivered their '_I told you so_'s. Well they weren't helping him. If he could charm somebody even with the internal treachery, it was no thanks to them. Ye gods, he was arguing with his internal organs. There was something really wrong with him.

"Have you come any closer to solving your case?" Jen asked. Light thought quickly for a moment, but didn't let it show on his face as he answered smoothly

"We're following up a few leads. You don't need to worry about it."

"But I'm a detective writer. It's fascinating to me, although I'm very sorry that my books have caused any deaths," Jen replied warmly. Light noticed a faint red mark on her cheek which had clearly not been caused by her blushes. He filed it away carefully, since L, irritating beast that he was, could only hear every word they said, and was unable to see the two of them. It made Light almost tempted to take hold of her hand just to spite him, but her pale, fine-boned fingers were too reminiscent of the cool hand which had curled around his wrist, so he repressed the urge.

"What made you start writing detective stories?" he asked instead.

"The same reason as anyone chooses their career, I suppose," Jen answered easily. "It's what I love doing."

"But why write novels instead of becoming a police officer?" Light questioned. "I mean, I love your books, but solving real crimes means you do some real good in the world." There, L, analyse that. One-nil to Light.

"I was under the impression you didn't have much choice, since you were chained to that detective. It seemed like he was in charge," Jen responded. Light smothered a scowl. One-one, and he could see L's wicked smile behind his eyelids when he blinked.

"My father's a great detective," he replied, trying not to sound offended. "It was his sense of justice which inspired me to choose this career. Working with Ryuuzaki is interesting, but it's my choice. He insists on the chain whenever he leaves the house because he's mildly agoraphobic, and he only feels safe if he's connected with me." He smirked internally. Roll on the increased Kira percentage, it was worth it to get in the little jibe. Two-two?

"I suppose parents often do have a great influence on their children," Jen considered. "My father has always been fanatically supportive of my writing. In fact it was because of his concern that I never took on a more dangerous job like being in the police. He wouldn't have approved. I'm a bit of a daddy's girl," she gave a small, delicious laugh (Three-two Light, he was attracted to Jen's laugh. Hmm, what does L's laugh sound like. Had he ever heard... damn, three all). "He won't let anyone touch a hair on my head."

"Do you see him often?" Light asked politely, trying to prevent his subconscious from setting up its internal score-board. Was that Kira-like? Did that mean L got another point?

"I visit my parents a lot, but my mother never comes down here. I suppose you could say she's a little agoraphobic, too, but even with my father she dislikes leaving the house. He takes care of her. He's very protective."

"I understand," Light smiled encouragingly. "It must be difficult. I suppose my parents are the other way around..." he bit his tongue, scolding himself for giving too much away. Something about Jen inspired confidence, loosened his tongue, and he had to remind himself that L was listening, L might well use something he said against him, L might be jealous that Light was confiding more in Jen than he did in him...

Damn. L was winning the game, and he wasn't even aware he was playing.

"Do you miss them?" Jen asked quietly. "Your family?" she prompted as Light started; she must have mistaken his disconsolate expression as grief at missing his family rather than sulking at losing his non-existent game against his internal L.

"Sometimes," he lied. He hadn't even though once about home since being with L. He had felt worryingly complete these past few days with Ryuuzaki. It made him feel a little guilty, really.

"It's all right," Jen smiled softly. "It's natural to miss them. You can't be much over twenty. Younger than me, I'd guess, and I still see my dad very often." Once again she had apparently mistaken his expression for awkwardness at remembering his family.

"I don't think of you as older than me," he purred at her. "You look so young and carefree."

"Appearances can be deceiving," she laughed, but Light could tell she was touched by his honeyed compliment. He was an expert, after all. For once on the same page as him, his subconscious shook him by the hand for a job well done.

"I suppose that applies to your detective friend, too," Jen continued unconsciously. "He must be something more special than he looks or acts for you to be so close to him."

"C-close?" Light spluttered as his subconscious ripped its metaphorical hand upwards at the last moment and sneered at him. "We're not – I mean, I suppose we-re – but-"

"I just meant that you allow yourself to be chained to him, and he seemed a bit odd. I suppose there's more to him than that," Jen smiled, that knowing look back in her eyes. Light struggled for composure, the points in L's favour making little chinging sounds as they clicked into place.

"He's a good detective," he admitted carelessly. "I suppose appearances are deceiving."

"But I think I'm right when I deduce that the two of you make a good team," Jen grinned. Light fought hard against the blush he was glad L had no way of seeing.

"We're definitely well capable of getting to the bottom of this case," he sidestepped smoothly.

"I'm counting on it," Jen smiled winningly. "We're almost back at my house. Would you like to come in for some cake?"

Light's internal consciousness gave a wide, very evil smile. This time, the chings were for him.

"I'd absolutely love to have cake with you," he enunciated carefully.

"Well?" Light asked with a nonchalance he did not quite feel as he handed the bugging device back to Ryuuzaki. "Anything useful?"

"You tell me, Light-kun," L responded contrarily. "You are the one who has been recently ingesting cake, therefore your mental functions should currently be higher than mine."

"She sent some back for you in a little box," Light defended weakly. It had been her suggestion, and Light knew that it would be cold glares and acerbic comments all the way if he refused on behalf of L.

"Yes. It served to make her at least 4% more suspicious," L replied shortly.

"Is that because it was the wrong flavour?" Light asked sarcastically.

"No. It would have been 5% if it was strawberry," L decided. "Carrot shows that she is concerned over my state of health, which makes her less suspicious, although assuming she is making fun of me, it might be 6%."

"Instead of quoting cake percentages," Light sighed, "why don't we discuss the evidence that I went out of my way to do the legwork for?"

"Light-kun did not enjoy his date?" L asked mischievously. Light cursed internally. He had walked into that one.

"Well are we?" he demanded.

"I am waiting for a phonecall from Watari," L told him. "When I have his information, presuming it fits with my theory, we will discuss it."

"And now?" Light demanded.

"You may do as you wish, Light-kun," L dismissed. "Since you are no longer bound to an imperfect agoraphobic."

Light sighed internally. L could be immensely petty. And there was one way Light knew of dealing with it. Well, two now, actually. He grabbed the front of L's shirt and pulled him into an abrupt kiss. Setting the astonished detective back down, he smirked in satisfaction.

"Don't believe everything you hear," he said glibly.

"Indeed, Light-kun is rarely honest with his paramours," L snarked. Light scowled. He recognised the look in L's eyes and braced himself for the onslaught. Instead of the usual foot, though, he received a painful tug as L's fingers knotted in his hair and pulled Light onto the floor, the detective straddling him.

All in all, Light thought, it was infinitely more satisfying than getting toes dug into your cheek. Nevertheless, the violent kissing-come-fighting still left him bruised and out of breath. But at least L looked a little perkier in the aftermath. Still, he slid back onto his chair as usual and proceeded to pay no attention to Light. Some things never changed.

"I'm taking a shower," Light said after a few moments. L did not even look up.

"Do as you wish," he said absently. Light stalked into the bathroom.

"I will," replied Light emphatically, and commenced the act of going into the bathroom, unbugged, unmonitored, unbound.

Feeling slightly odd at being alone once more for the first time in months, he tugged his shirt over his head, enjoying the fact that he could accomplish this simple task without the usual technical difficulties. But the universe has an odd sense of humour and, like Light's subconscious, it seemed to delight in making the unfortunate young man the butt of its jokes. Light's shirt had somehow managed to get tangled in his wristwatch, probably during his brief tussle with L on the floor, he thought. Damn, for his first time luxuriating in taking his shirt off without unnecessary fiddling, this was pretty ironic, and not in a good way. Tugging the rest of the shirt over his head, he tugged at the garment in hope of untangling it from his watch. Eventually, after much pulling and manipulation of cloth and metal, it came free with a faint click.

Light watched in confusion as a small fragment of paper fluttered down to settle on top of the discarded top. He glanced at his wrist; a small circular compartment under the face had come open. He hadn't known it was there. Perhaps this was some sort of certificate of authenticity he had never noticed or something. Reaching out to examine it, Light's fingers closed around the little piece of paper.

**Dun dun duuuun! And many kudos to the clever reviewer who saw this coming! Please tell me a) if you saw this coming and if you like my decision to include it or not, b) what you think's going to happen both with this and with the case (did you notice any hints?) and c) whether I'm still doing a good job of keeping things in character or if it's too silly or !**


	9. Laid Bare

**Umm, this was meant to be about 2000 words which made sense, but it mushroomed into over 4000 which probably don't so if anyone doesn't want to read 7 pages of twisted logic and probably very dull and complicated dialogue with minimal humour, skip to the bottom for the one-sentence gist of this chapter. K?**

**If you do want to plough through it, however, then I would absolutely LOVE to know what you thought, because this was seriously difficult to write, and I have no idea how well I managed to keep in character. So please please please give me feedback. If it was rubbish, tell me that too. I won't be offended, honestly. Oh, and if anyone wants to give me a mini-lecture about the correct capitalisation of proper nouns,ie. Note vs. note, feel free, because I totally winged it.**

Light's eyes flashed open and he had to choke back a yell of surprise as the memories came cavalcading back to him in a spectacularly horrifying mess of images and emotions.

"Did you work out how to use the shower yet, Light-kun?" L's slightly teasing voice floated through to him and he twitched slightly at the violently conflicting feelings L's voice abruptly awoke in him.

"I'm fine," he called back in a relatively convincing tone of voice, and swiftly turned on the water so as not to arouse suspicion. This done, he uncurled his fist and looked at the crumpled piece of Death Note. The only piece he had remaining within approximately six thousand miles. How had this happened? How had he not reclaimed his role as Kira after the death of Higuchi? It had been flawless. There had been no way he could be wrong. Yet his plan had failed.

Damn it, why hadn't Misa told him that he was Kira? She had remembered, somehow, he recognised that now. That stupid girl, she was so useless. He remembered their conversation before he had gone to England. All the things she had said, they suddenly made sense now he had his own memories back. She had known about Kira, known that she had been second Kira, and she had kept it from him.

"I'm sorry, Misa, but it isn't fair to keep you waiting when I don't know if or when I'll be coming back, or settling down. You deserve to be happy, and I can't give you what you want." Stupid, sentimental words, but he had meant them. He remembered her wounded look, the way her big, kohl-rimmed eyes had brimmed with tears.

"But Misa can't be happy without her Light," she had sobbed. "Light promised we would be together once this was over, once Misa and Light were free from suspicion, in our perfect world."

"I know, Misa, but I'm not free, you can see that. Ryuuzaki won't let me go until we're sure Kira won't start up his killings again. Besides, the only way to get redemption and to be free from Kira once and for all is to fulfil my ambition to be a great detective. Now we've defeated Kira I have that chance, and Misa has the chance to live her own life again. I don't want to keep you chained to me now you can be free."

"Being a detective away from Misa is what would make Light most happy?" Misa had asked tentatively. His ignorant self had nodded earnestly. "What about if Light was Kira? Would he still want that?"

"What?" he had said loudly, incredulous. "How can you say that, Misa? I thought you loved me. How can you say that I am that monster?"

"I'm sorry," Misa had cried, shaking her head violently. "Light never told me what to do if this happened."

"I'm telling you now," he had told her gently, not picking up the true meaning of her words. How could he have? "I want you to be happy, and forget about me, and Kira. Please?"

"And Light will be happy?" Misa asked quietly. He had nodded. "Then Misa will be happy if Light is happy, even if it means we have to be apart. But Light is the only man Misa will ever love."

That had been the gist of it, and that fool of a girl had been the one thing between him and victory. If only she had recognised what his true feelings would be if he had all the facts. He had been so close, yet he was stuck here in England, powerless, whilst Kira's memory faded daily!

But wait, wasn't he the victor? Here he was, with L's trust, hands unbound and nobody knew about the notebooks. It was his win!

But even as he thought it, his Kira mentality was somehow muted. L's trust... Why did it mean so much to him? How could it be that when his plan had failed and he had been stuck being completely ignorant of who he was, what great things he had achieved, that he had been happy? He had been happy being L's partner; L's friend; L's lover? Objectively, if he recalculated his plans, it was the perfect situation for him to carry on as before. He could get Misa to uncover the buried notebook, and pretend to love L and play innocent so that he could find out his real name. Misa could kill L and then resume the murders, and Light could pretend to re-open the investigation to avenge L, and, he supposed, pretend he had missed Misa so he could use her again. Yes, it was perfect. Better than the original, even.

But somehow, Light did not have the gleeful enthusiasm he ought to about the plan. Somehow, disgustingly, a part of him even thought that Misa had been right. He was happy. He would have been happy. Kira was gone, and the world – did the world really not need Kira? It was true, the fear and worship Kira had enjoyed were both dwindling rapidly, though the dip in crime rate continued. Had it been enough, to mete out divine punishment and show people that justice did exist? It was an anomaly. How had the crime rate not doubled, tripled since Kira's disappearance? Why were people not screaming for Kira's return? Were people so fickle to their gods? And how could he, Yagami Light, be happy when L was still alive? But the thought of killing L... the sweet nectar of victory was rankled with fear. Fear of what life would be like without L. How had he truly come to feel that L was a friend – no, more than that. He was happy _because _L was alive, and with him.

It would have been ironic were it not so bitter. Kira loved L. And Kira was finished, bound by his own creator. He could never have anticipated such a weak emotion as love could have won over pride. Not Kira's pride. Yagami Light was many things; arrogant, stubborn, manipulative. But he was not stupid. Being Kira, lone god of a perfect world with Misa at his side, or being with L, happy and trusting, solving crimes and teasing his friend about the amount of cake he ate. The second one was real, it was good, it was true. It wasn't even as if he wouldn't still be doing good, hunting down criminals. He and L together were almost as powerful as Kira even without supernatural means. And the bigger part of him wanted this, wanted to be selfish. And wanted Kira gone at all costs. The upstanding detective in him had somehow gained strength these past few weeks, and now it had been given the key to the unsolvable case.

Finally, Light stripped and got into the shower, fragment of note carefully shielded from the water in his palm in order to retain his memories, barely registering the fact he – Kira- had easily mastered the controls this time. Washing swiftly and thoroughly, he finally let the logical side of his brain get to work on the problem, all emotions shifted to one side. Essentially, Light knew, he had three choices; become Kira again and kill L, burn this fragment of Note and forget it all again, go back to being oblivious and leave the case unsolved, or confront L with the truth and take the consequences. Yagami Light was Kira. But Kira was not Yagami Light. Yagami Light was more than Kira, was stronger than Kira. Or weaker, what difference did it make really? Cursing himself for a sentimental fool all the way, he already knew what he was going to do. Had known it almost the instant his memory had returned.

He shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, then went into the bedroom to face L. L, whose face brightened the instant Light appeared. Guilt was such an unpleasant feeling. As was fear. Kira ought not to feel such trivial things. But Light was glad he did. Glad he could.

"Light-kun, Watari sent me some crucial information whilst you were showering. Apparently, the- what's wrong, Light-kun?"

Light was impressed. He had not moved, had not said a word, had not been aware of anything unusual in his facial expression, yet L had picked up on it immediately. Did being Kira make him somehow different? No, it didn't matter. He had to get it out before he changed his mind.

"L," he said flatly, his voice as dry and dead as an autumn leaf, "You were right."

"I am usually right, Light-kun," L stated. "To what in particular do you refer?" Usually, this comment would have been accompanied by a slight smirk, but it was delivered with utmost gravity. Light swallowed.

"My watch caught in the cuff of my shirt," he started, then frowned, and made a slight jerking movement as the words came out wrong. "I mean, I made a discovery, and my memories-" He broke off again, because it sounded so stupid. Closing his eyes for a moment and breathing deeply, he forced himself into calm and looked directly into L's obsidian orbs.

"I am Kira." He stated baldly. "Or, I was Kira, and I didn't remember. But I swear, I'm telling you the truth, and I don't want to be Kira anymore, Ryuuzaki, I don't know what was wrong with me. Well, I do, and I'm not even sure I regret – but Ryuuzaki, I don't want to do it anymore. There are better ways – Ryuuzaki..." He tailed off softly, eloquence failing him as he watched the shifting emotions in L's eyes. From shock, to fear, to suspicion, understanding, and finally the one thing he could not justify himself against – sadness.

"I see, Light-kun," he said, and his voice was a little softer, a little slower than usual. "Please explain more clearly. What triggered this sudden recall?"

"A-aren't you surprised?" Light managed, almost disappointed that L could be so calm.

"If Light-kun remembers, I always maintained that he was Kira. Please, explain."

"I-I found this," Light held out the slightly damp Note fragment. "It's a piece of the notebook I used to k-kill people." He wasn't sure why he stumbled over the word, when he had committed the deed with his own hand hundreds, no thousands of times. "It fell out of my watch, and as I touched it my memories came back."

"A notebook?" L asked, cocking his head to one side. "I see – Light-kun, please hand me this paper."

"I can't," Light said flatly. "If I stop touching it, I will forget again. I no longer possess the Note."

"If I might ask, why are you confessing to me?" L asked lightly. "Surely if you no longer have the means to kill, there is no need to tell me. I could never convict you as it was."

"I – because even though I was Kira, even though I- I created Kira, I want to catch him. And I need you to know the truth. All of it. How he- how I killed, why I did it, how I evaded you, everything. I need you to know Ryuuzaki. To solve the case and get rid of Kira. I couldn't live with myself otherwise. Just throwing it away and forgetting – I'm not a coward Ryuuzaki!" He finished fiercely. L looked piercingly at Light.

"This is remarkable," he mused to himself. "It seems that although Light-kun remembers being Kira, Light-kun is still Light-kun. The Kira I know would never admit this to me. I am sure there are moves you could still make, moves to kill me or to continue killing. If a Notebook was used for killing, there must have been more than one, since two Kiras once worked simultaneously."

"I don't want to kill," Light said forcefully, sitting down on the bed and fisting his hands in his wet hair. "Damn it, Ryuuzaki, I want to catch Kira, even- even though it's me. I want you to know the entire truth."

"Can it be true?" L murmured, almost to himself, then turned to Light and spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Very well, Light-kun. Tell me everything from the beginning. I will listen and occasionally ask you to clarify if necessary, but I will not interrupt. Is this adequate?"

So Light told him. He explained how he had found the Note, what he had thought, how he had decided what to do, and then how his desire for justice had developed into the most enthralling game against the only worthy adversary he had ever had. He left nothing out, not even the basest deeds or the most unforgivable facts. He explained about Raye Pember, about Naomi Misora, about Misa, though he made sure he was scrupulously honest in freeing her of blame, admitting he had manipulated her. He confessed his masterstroke, his plan, what had been behind the imprisonment, even the burial of the second Notebook, and the failure of his plan when the Note was destroyed with Higuchi. He only faltered when it came to here and now. L, being L, did not miss this.

"Light-kun is evading a very important fact," L said starkly, looking keenly at Light as he stumbled to the close of his narrative with enough lameness to cripple an Olympic swimming team. Oh great, wet and lame.

"I've told you everything," Light said wearily. And he had. Every detail. Every death. He had left nothing out. Except-

"There is one thing which does not make sense with the image I hold of Kira," L persisted. "Kira would never admit to being Kira, especially not to L, and with no provocation. I admit that I had recently begun to feel fewer concerns regarding your continued identity as Kira. I am sure Light-kun would have found himself with the advantage, particularly concerning the existence of another Death Note and the cooperation of Misa-san. I am sure that the many plans which I can now formulate would not have failed to have occurred to you as Kira at this point. Therefore it is not logical why Light-kun has chosen to confess. I can only conclude that either Light-kun is being manipulated by Kira after all, or that something within Light-kun's psyche has fundamentally altered between now and his original memory loss."

"So this is your convoluted way of asking why I decided to confess instead of killing you when I had the chance?" Light asked flatly.

"If Light-kun wishes to put it that way," L confirmed. "Kira does not like to lose, and I anticipate that a confession is the same as a loss. It must be a considerable blow to Kira's pride to reveal himself."

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki, for rubbing it in," Light snarled, his ego bristling. "You call yourself the best detective in the world and you cannot work out my reason even though I already told you?"

"Light-kun's reasoning is vague and insufficient," L contradicted. "'to solve the case and to get rid of Kira', were the words used, I believe. But Light-kun is Kira, and therefore presumably supports Kira's ideals, having conceptualised them himself. Is he suggesting that I apprehend him?"

"I don't know," Light grimaced. "I-it's up to you, Ryuuzaki. You know the truth and you have my word that I am Kira. But I can remember it now, and I am making a choice."

"A serial killer who chooses to kill no longer is still guilty and must be brought to justice," L reminded him.

"Then do it," snapped Light. "But I won't be Kira anymore. I could have. I could have won, so easily, L, and I could have killed you. But I didn't. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Indeed it means a great deal," L mused, biting his thumb. "It means everything. But I do not know what it means. I do not understand why."

"I'm not sure I do, either," Light confessed tiredly. "I became Kira out of the desire to do good, to make a better world. I was seventeen years old when I found the Note, and I believed in an ideal world. You know the saying. 'Power Corrupts...'. The Note goes beyond absolute power. Once I began, I was changed. You remember how much I changed when I lost my memory. I- my sense of justice was equal to my father's, and you know what that means."

"Light-kun was certainly very like Yagami-san," L commented. "The same stubbornness, also. But Yagami-san would never have used such an evil item."

"My father had forty years of experience," replied Light evenly. "I was an idealist, disillusioned with all the rottenness in the world, and I started intending to sacrifice my own innocence for the sake of the world. Don't believe it," he added as Ryuuzaki looked doubtful. "Believe that I wanted to be a god, if you want. That I was selfish and arrogant. It was true soon enough. As soon as L challenged me, that was what it was. Innocent lives were taken for my own ends, to challenge L. When I look back, it's always been about you, Ryuuzaki."

"So Light-kun is saying that," L said softly.

"Saying what? That now I have the chance to make the great L fall at the feet of Kira once and for all, I can't do it, because I don't want to beat L anymore?" L said harshly. "Yes, damn it all. I am saying that. L wins, because Kira was too weak, in the end, to finish his foe. Whoever said keep you enemies close was a fool."

"I may have to concur," muttered L under his breath. Light's heart skipped a beat at the half-formed implications. "Does Light-kun regret?" he asked in a more normal tone.

"I- I'm not even sure," Light confessed. "When I remembered – I was Kira again. The very same, planning the next step. But- it's like, Yagami Light, the Yagami Light I was before the Note, or perhaps after I lost my memories, was there too, detached from it, and thinking about how much better it felt to fight against Kira. To fight crime justly, with no murder or coercion. To fight alongside L. So it's not like I regret it. I think Kira did a lot of good, and I think I was right. If I went back... I would do it again. All of it, because being up against L was something I admit I would not have missed for anything. But now... it's just different. The world doesn't need Kira anymore. Kira's job is done. And I... I'm still selfish, and arrogant, and all of it. And I remember both Lights. The one I choose is the one who works with L to fight on the side of justice. And that Light is against Kira. Maybe that's more selfish... choosing my own happiness above my calling as Kira. Although I doubt I can have either now."

"So why did Light-kun not simply choose to forget again?" L challenged. "Why tell me? You cannot have thought that after discovering the truth our lives would continue running along the same path?"

Light flinched, but managed to look L in the eye.

"I do not lie to myself," he said firmly. "And I don't want to have the question of Kira hanging over me for the rest of my life, always wondering if I was or I wasn't, and what really happened. Besides, these memories may not be pleasant to me, but they're part of who I am, and who I was. I was never a coward."

"Light-kun is more like his father than I thought," L said thoughtfully. "Stubborn and upright to the very end. And as arrogant as Kira always was. It is strange that Light-kun became Kira, with so much justice within him."

"Kira was justice," Light explained. "It was my way of making the world more pure. But I somehow think now, that perhaps there could have been better ways, from this point, to do that."

"I wonder if Light-kun did after all calculate this perfectly," L said, his tone peculiar, a little strained, a little admiring, a little wistful.

"What do you mean?" Light asked. "I'm not trying to manipulate you, Ryuuzaki."

"I would never have calculated that I would come to believe that Kira was conceived out of justice," L said. "Kira was obstinate, childish and overconfident when he began, and cared more for showing L that Kira was more intelligent than L was, that Kira could always stay one step ahead. I believed that Kira might think he was justice, but he was more like a spoilt child. Light-kun has somehow managed to negate my dearest beliefs. I find it difficult to accept that Light has managed to conquer Kira. It is unprecedented."

"I don't understand," Light said honestly.

"Light-kun without Kira was a person a lot like myself. Somebody with intelligence matching my own, and with integrity I admired, but Light-kun always possessed the mentality of Kira; the arrogance and self-belief which would have led him to become Kira. Good intentions aside, a profile like that meant that Light-kun always had it in him to become Kira. And innocence once lost cannot be regained. It surprises me, although perhaps it shouldn't, that Light-kun still possesses a sense of justice which overwhelms his arrogance, his pride, his confidence in his own beliefs. Although perhaps that is an arrogance in itself."

"..." Light for once was having difficulty in following L's line of thought.

"It is an interesting situation. Yagami Light became Kira of his own free will, and forgot his time as Kira willingly, with the intent of resuming his role when it became safe," L summarised to Light, catching his confusion. "Once he forgot, he reverted to the Yagami Light who had never been tempted to become a god and forsake reason. But on remembering, a certain catalyst, perhaps, divided the two mentalities from each other, so that Kira and Yagami Light became separated enough for Yagami Light to conquer his god complex with his sense of justice. Yet still this does not quite make sense. Yagami Light still believes that Kira was justified. So I can only conclude that another motive underlies this. Considering my own feelings on this matter, I wish to venture a theory."

"Your own feelings?" Light echoed, finally catching L's drift, or at least hoping he did.

"Yes," L frowned. "As I say, it is unprecedented. Light-kun chooses to be Light over Kira not because he hates Kira, but because he finds something else more important. Kira's primary objective was the elimination of and victory over myself, L. If Light Yagami won, it was because his primary objective was opposed to that of Kira. Light Yagami did not wish for L's death. Perhaps, the opposite. 'To work alongside L'. Light-kun ..."

"If Kira had wanted L," Light emphasised, "He would have continued to lie and manipulate. I don't want L. I want to be worthy of L."

"Light-kun," L said again, and his voice was no longer crisp and confident, but lost and breaking.

"I won't unsay it," Light insisted stubbornly. "And I won't lie. Even if it means losing you."

"Somehow Light-kun knows that this is the only way he could be absolved by me," L whispered, and a pale hand came to trail across Light's cheek. "Because even when you were Kira, I felt for you in ways I knew I should not. I knew it, and still I- the only thing missing was trust."

"And you trust me now that I have admitted how much I lied and schemed and killed?" Light asked, his voice catching with unacceptable tears.

"I never pretended to be normal, Light-kun," L murmured, his lips drawing closer to Light's.

"I never thought," Light choked, "that I would lay bare before you, and by my own choice."

"Nor I," L admitted hoarsely. "But my ridiculous pride... for you, Light-kun, I discard it."

"I'm glad," Light whispered, and let his eyes fall closed as oblivion met his lips.

**If you skipped, then in a nutshell: Light is Kira. L forgives him. They kiss and stuff.**

**If you made it through the whole thing: how was it? Questions and comments sincerely appreciated.**


	10. Balance

**This fic is getting difficult! This was originally a lot fluffier but I felt like I was straying too far from the L and Light we know and love. Now Light is Kira again, to me he is a lot more mature, cynical and paranoid, and his relationship with L is slightly different, less innocent and fluffy, more challenging and competitive, although I hope the teasing and humour, plus the sweetness, is still there. Their mental connection is what gives them sparkage, though, imo, so I've tried to bring that out a little bit. I'd like to know what you think? If it's a bit schizophrenic it's because I've rewritten it about 5 times. This was originally the showdown chapter, but I got so caught up in Light being paranoid I had to cut it. Oh well, that will come, and this way you get a little bit more information than I was planning on giving you before the confrontation. If anyone can guess, they can be the next L (simply because you'd probably have to be L to work it out on the pitiful amount of evidence I've given you, hehe). And sorry for the longish wait for this chapter, I've been in Austria all weekend. Also sorry for the irritatingly long A/N. I feel the need to explain myself. All right, onto the story.**

It was the oddest thing, Light mused to himself. Both of them were completely naked – figuratively, that was – yet things between them had never been more amicable or _domestic_. The very lack of tension paradoxically made him tense. He had admitted to being Kira – and L, with his usual speculative disinterest, had calmly accepted the fact. L had brought him – Kira – to his childhood home and blithely set him in the centre of his little fledgling successor scheme, and Light had nonchalantly slotted into place like just another blank puzzle piece in one of Near's games. Where was the drama, the intrigue, the accusations, mind-games, recriminations and, oh yes, the warrants for his arrests along with four dozen armed policemen? He was Kira, and had resigned the post so he could enjoy post-confession snuggles with a paranoid detective with a sugar addiction. Said detective, arch-nemesis of Kira, always half a step ahead, was currently running nimble fingers through his hair and giving him a rather pleasant scalp massage, seemingly completely ambivalent to the fact that he had killed thousands with the flick of a pen.

It was idyllic, but somehow it just wasn't quite _them_, and the sheer lack of rivalry or suspicion between them worried him. Perhaps because the Light without memories of Kira had never been anything other than completely upright, the reawakening of the side of him which had spawned Kira had reinstated his paranoia, since he had spent so much time acting two roles at once and playing games with everyone's trust. But it was more than just his own personality and reactions which were bothering L he knew would not just accept everything at face value without a peep. Light, now that he had regained his memories, along with a healthy dose of paranoia which came from evading justice, thought he knew L too well to expect such a relaxed atmosphere with no second guessing or latent suspicions. The L he knew would be analysing, planning, thinking ahead and planning for every eventuality, however small. Light would be remiss not to do the same.

"Mmm," he mumbled. "Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, Light-kun?" L murmured back, his voice a sleepy purr.

"What happens now?" he asked tentatively, unable to let the sleeping beast lie. Or possibly the lying beast sleep. It was a new approach, speaking his concerns aloud, but in the interest of honesty, he wanted to be sure.

"Oh, you're right," L acknowledged, pulling himself up onto his elbows and sliding back into his favourite crouch. "Before we got distracted, I had some important news on the case. It seems that Watari has matched up our letters to each of the sites."

"Oh," Light said, disconcerted. He had been thinking along the lines of 'what happens now that the greatest detective in the world knows who Kira is, spends the night cuddling up with him, and conspicuously fails to arrest him or discuss the matter further. But this would do, too. He did not want to leave the development of the case out of the equation. "I take it they are the real thing, then?"

L gave a small, devilish grin, and Light automatically _knew _that things were just not that simple. No simple person could grin like that. "It does not do to assume, Light-kun. Two of the three letters were written on materials taken directly from the murder sites, the third was undoubtedly sent by the same person but the material was not taken from the corresponding murder scene."

"Oh," Light said again. It was not what he was expecting. He had half expected L to refuse him information, or make an acerbic comment about his motive in asking for it. But he should have learnt by now to expect the unexpected with L. Wasn't that why he had fallen for him in the first place? "Does that give us a murderer or not? It seems strange that he'd forget to take evidence from one of the sites to use."

"You are quite right, Light-kun. That would be strange," L agreed solemnly. Light got the feeling he was holding back his own theories, and strangely that made him more comfortable. It was a familiar situation, being tested, and he could easily work out the other possibilities himself; the letter-sender either did not have access to the murder site, or they were trying to tell them something. He was sure L already had his own theories, but he would not ask if L was not willing to tell him. He could think one step ahead of the messy-haired detective, although this particular description could apply to either man at this point; L's massaging technique was skilful but not particularly reverential to Light's usually perfect locks.

"Do we have any leads on who sent them?" he asked aloud, reminding himself not to think about his hair at a time like this. He needed all his mental faculties to work out L's game.

"I have a very strong suspicion where we can find the answer," L replied shrewdly. "Light-kun better take a shower and make himself extra-charming."

Light knew better than to protest that he was _always _charming, even after having his hair thoroughly mussed up by sugar-sticky fingers.

"We're going to see Jen-chan again?" he guessed. "Another date?" The last was slightly facetious, and accompanied by a very suggestive pair of eyes.

"That may no longer be necessary, and I say this with no ulterior motive whatsoever. I seem to recall a certain collection of paint tins outside her place of residence," L responded, seemingly unaffected by the sultry expression on the Light's face. "And I wish to be better acquainted with their purpose."

"She was redecorating?" Light ventured, although he did not believe it for a second, and knew better to think that Ryuuzaki would be satisfied with anything mundane like this. In fact, his mind jumped, as L's must have, to the material upon which one of the letters had been written; the inside of a paint label. Presumably this was the false one. "But if it was incriminating evidence, surely she would have hidden it slightly better," he added as his brain began unconsciously to work the problem even as he attempted to weigh L's own disposition.

"Precisely," L nodded. "Which means that somebody is trying to tell us something." So did this mean L was willing to confide in him? His Kira mentality smirked triumphantly, albeit a little disappointed at the lack of competition even as his aptly named Light side took on several of the properties of warm marshmallow as the consideration that perhaps L did completely trust him filtered through to the lower levels of his mind.

"So you're suspicions about Jen-chan have risen?" Light asked levelly, betraying none of his reactions in his smooth features.

"On the contrary," L mused, biting his thumb, surveying Light's poker-face with a detached interest which immediately negated Light's last thoughts; L was undoubtedly assessing his reactions. "I never got a chance to talk with you about the conversation the two of you had. It was most illuminating, and Watari's evidence all but confirms the theory which I derived from it."

"Am I going to be told this theory?" Light asked a little irritably as L fell into silence and resumed his slightly insolent inspection of Light's features. Screw being subtle nad not asking if L didn't want to tell. He didn't particularly like being toyed with, and his brief, sweet illusions of being confided in were shrinking swiftly; the proverbial marshmallow burst into flames.

Not yet," L chimed blithely. "But you will get there soon, I'm sure. In fact, I am counting on you working it out at the right moment. We should get dressed, Light-kun. I'll have Watari bring the car around in fifteen minutes."

Light swallowed a snarl at being played with, and found underneath it that he felt slightly empty, like a deflated balloon. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and it took him a few moments to realise that it was insecurity. He was worried that L was using him. After all, hadn't he had the privilege of playing with L for months with his Kira Swings and Roundabouts GameTM? Perhaps L was getting his revenge. He wasn't sure if he approved of this or not. It was what L would do, and his Kira side respected the caution and complexity, leapt ahead to analyse what his own moves should be, as was its wont, but the part of him which had confessed his soul to the detective was disappointed that he was not 100% trusted, that the mind games were still in play.

"L?" Light said cautiously, wondering why somebody as finicky at him was picking so insistently at this particular scab. If L was playing games, should Light make himself vulnerable by asking? "Are you sure... do you really trust me to help on this case?" Too late to turn back.

"I assume Light-kun's intelligence is intact, as ever," L said dryly. "Therefore your assistance on this case is imperative, or at least very convenient. Did you not notice what a good team we make, Light-kun?"

Light fought against the blush; L really had a knack for cheesy double-entendre, and his tolerance for said entendre had apparently dropped drastically since separating from Misa.

"We do, and I'm glad I can help, but Ryuuzaki – we never really resolved what we're going to do next. You know. About me being Kira and everything. And I get the feeling you're holding back from me." There. He was being direct. No more mind games. Or was the fact that he was being direct on purpose to prove his sincerity make that a mind game in itself? But he was sincere. Wasn't he?

"Does Light-kun feel the need to kill anyone in the next twenty-four hours?" L asked blithely.

"Wh- no!" Light exclaimed, shocked out of his convoluted thought process by that always unexpected bluntness.

"Then it is not as pressing as solving our case," L dismissed. "If you wish to be furnished with my intentions, I think it is best for Light-kun to maintain his memories, so you will keep the Note touching your skin under a band aid for now. To everyone else's knowledge, the case is closed. I will keep you under surveillance, of course, but for now Light-kun, I think it is safe to assume Kira is no longer a threat. If the killings began again, I would of course have no choice but to reassess the matter, but the chances of this are less that 1%, I believe. As for holding back on you, Light-kun, it is important for trust to run both ways."

"So you're not worried I'm going to kill you the second your guard is down?" Light queried, digesting this information carefully, viewing it from all angles.

"I am perfectly able to defend myself," L smiled slightly. "And no, I do not believe Light-kun poses any immediate threat. Is that satisfactory for now?"

"I suppose," Light considered. "But Ryuuzaki, don't you hate me for killing all those people?"

L gave a very rare sigh of exasperation. Light fancied his Kira side would have been smashing its palm repeatedly against its forehead, too. He sounded so naive, and he hated feeling vulnerable. Why was he going there?

"Light-kun, you forget that I have known you were Kira for months. It does not stop me admiring you as a person. I can even understand you motivations much more clearly than I did before I met Light-kun. I have long since reconciled myself to the fact that you have committed such crimes. It is one of the unfortunate things about having the capacity to be a brilliant detective; one often also holds the potential to be a brilliant criminal."

And Light understood. And it made him want to kick Ryuuzaki almost as much as it made him want to kiss the inscrutable detective. But suddenly the situation he was in clicked into place and he found his elusive footing. One, L had never trusted Light completely, and possibly never would, and vice-versa. Well, Light could live with that. Two, L had always thought Light had the capacity for evil born from his desire for justice. He had been right, and Light could respect that. Three, he was just as much of a rat bastard as Light was, so he understood that the positions might just as easily have been reversed. Light wondered. Would L have done what he did, had he found the Note? It was a question he would never strive too hard to find an answer to. All that mattered was that nothing did. Nothing at all. L was L and Light was himself, and that was why they got on so well together. He himself had been unconsciously treating his own subconscious as a caged animal. What he had not understood was that his capacity to kill and think as Kira was something that was an integral part of him, and something L possessed too. It was what made him a brilliant detective. And the mind names would never end. L was holding back, waiting on Light, testing him out. And Light wouldn't have it any other way. It was, after all, why he loved the crazy paranoid recluse, because he kept him on his toes.

"Shall we go?" he offered casually. L gave him a wicked grin.

"Let's," he affirmed. "I am very interested in the outcome of this case."

"I thought you had worked out the outcome?" He was fishing for a hint he knew he would not receive. He was not disappointed.

"Only the theory. I wish to discover what will occur in practice." Well, that was cryptic. But therein lay the fun. He thrived on mystery. The only difference was, where before he would have been livid at being put at a disadvantage, the new elements of respect and trust meant he was only eager to cover the lost ground.

**Review? And please be honest and give me REASONS, people.**


	11. Playing Tennis With A Popsicle

**Oh my, the incredible confusion of going over this chapter again and trying to make it make sense. Not sure it does, but it makes as much as it ever will, so meh. It's showdown time people, I hope it meets expectations! If my plot has holes, tell me so I can plug them. And once again I apologise for the lack of fluff, I know some people find the psychological stuff boring as. My only consolation is that the next chapter (or possibly chapter after next, depending on how long the explanations take) will be so fluffy it'll be like choking on candyfloss. In the best sense. And no, don't ask about the chapter title. I am unaccountable for the retarded things my brain does. It seemed like a good analogy at the time.**

On pulling up outside Jen's stately house, Light noticed that L looked particularly delighted that the paint cans were no longer there even though the wall had progressed no further than before. He frowned to himself, the little crease between his eyes almost imperceptible as he tried in vain to work out what L understood that he did not. It was a game, Light knew, a test of some sort, and he was not accustomed to failure. But L had been frustratingly obtuse when it came to the evidence Watari had collected for him. Light had a shrewd idea that it was L's plan for him to learn the evidence only at the time L disclosed it to Jen, thus allowing Light to work out... whatever it was L wanted him to work out, but that tasted a little too much like manipulation.

Well, that was fine by him. It gave him certain other pieces of information to work with. One, L was testing his deduction skills, which he knew were more than up to scratch. Two, L was testing what his reactions would be, and Light had a lot of experience in the art of performance. Three, although he was testing him, it had to be that L trusted him to act in a certain way, or in the worst case scenario had a back-up plan in place in case Light did not manage to play his unknown part. So. L was testing him, was he? Then Light would be prepared, and he would be able to prove to the detective that this was what he wanted, and that L could not do without him. He wondered if L was counting on him thinking this, too. Or if the very act of meeting Ryuuzaki's expectations would somehow raise his suspicions that Light's Kira persona was still a threat. But then again, perhaps L was counting on Light's experiences as Kira, and his devotion to Ryuuzaki, which he admitted to himself was irritatingly strong, to make Light the perfect partner, and was using this opportunity for Light to be able to demonstrate this. Sometimes it made his brain hurt a little, dating a genius detective. But in a good way. The kind of way that did not allow him for one moment to regret that he had chosen L before Kira. He was keeping the best of both worlds all for himself.

"Are you ready, Light-kun?" L asked grimly. Light nodded his assent, and followed Ryuuzaki to the front door, which opened to reveal a slightly flustered Jen, her usual airy prints replaced with a long-sleeved shirt and jeans even in the muggy heat of the autumn afternoon.

"Light," she smiled warmly. "And Ryuuzaki. I wasn't expecting company. But I do have some cake," she added impishly.

Light half expected the reclusive man beside him to refuse the cake, despite all previous evidence to the contrary, but apparently this was too great-a sacrilege to bear, because he allowed himself to be seated with a large slice of chocolate sponge and a cup of coffee without any overbearingly bold or insulting declarations. Which was not to say that he had any intention of being polite.

"Are we alone, Miss Ainswright?" he asked abruptly.

"Of course," Jen smiled. "I don't often have visitors."

"Then could I ask you to please keep all the doors to this room closed whilst we talk?" L asked. Light shot him a look, but his face was impassive. Jen got up silently and complied, not asking any questions. Well that was odd, Light thought to himself. He resolved to pay very close attention, sure he was missing something, and determined to work out what it was.

"If you would, Miss Ainswright, I would like you to roll up your sleeves," L continued calmly. Light out and out stared at him as if he had taken leave of his senses, his logical side shutting down momentarily for repairs as he tried to find a context for this absurd request.

"My- what?" Jen asked bemusedly. Clearly she thought so too. "I thought you were here about the case."

"We are. Your sleeves, if you please. Unless you have something to hide?" L said.

"I have nothing to hide," Jen tilted her chin up proudly. "But also nothing to gain. I will comply with you in anything pertaining to the case, but I am within my rights to refuse impertinent requests."

"Thank you," Ryuuzaki nodded to her. "I apologise. I shall get straight to the point. We have found evidence that three of the letters from the collection you gave us are connected directly with the three crime scenes."

"Then you can trace the criminal?" Jen asked.

"Yes," L replied. "We have DNA samples linking two of the three letters with a Mr Colman Eochain, whom we have been looking into. It seems that he is an old friend of your family's whose interest in your books has transcended the usual boundaries of obsession."

Light's head turned sharply to look at the dishevelled profile of the detective next to him. This was the first he had heard about any of this. What was L playing at? Did he expect Light to draw any conclusions from this when he hadn't been given time to see the evidence? Genius was one thing, but even he could not be expected to work in these conditions. It was like expecting him to play tennis without the ball and with an ice lolly instead of a racquet.

"Colman?" Jen repeated, oblivious to Light's silent indignation. "Yes. I knew him. He and my father used to work together. They were good friends."

Light watched as L leant forwards and wrote something on a sheet of notepaper and pushed it across the table, finger to his lips, and motioned for Jen to pick it up. No, L would not have asked him to come along if he could not fulfil the role required of him. He must be looking for conclusions in the wrong places. Think, damn it. Why would L write a note? Did he not want Light to see what he was saying? Was this entire thing a set-up? But no, Light genuinely believed that L cared for him just as much as he did L. This was something else.

"That is also our conclusion from what Mr Eochain has told us," L continued blandly. "We took him into custody earlier today, and whilst he has not admitted to the murders, we have enough evidence to attribute the crimes to him and get a conviction. Do you understand?"

L was looking at Jen, who had paled considerably as she read the note. She looked up with frightened eyes, and nodded at L. Light looked from one to the other, and then followed Jen's head as it jerked briefly upwards. The proverbial ice lolly began to melt. Comprehension dawned with L's delicate inflection. The far-fetched evidence Light had no knowledge of and L had had no opportunity to gather. The closed doors. The note-paper. _The paint cans so conspicuously missing outside the front gate._

Somebody was in the house.

L was talking absolute rubbish.

He knew the first was true because of the second, and he knew the second was true because to his certain knowledge they had taken nobody into custody that morning or at any other time. Light could only guess why Ryuuzaki had neglected to tell Light his plan, but at this point his aptly named Light side won out yet again. The clever mind games went out the window and he knew there was only one way he could react. If he failed to meet L's expectations, well... he wouldn't. It was suddenly quite simple. If L had given him a popsicle to work with, it meant L had entrusted him with a sugary treat with a finite life span. And Light knew that even though the sugar element was a very poor and disconcertingly bizarre analogy, the fact remained; L had put a great deal of trust in him, bringing him here at all and expecting him to work out the case on the spot. So it was mind games, manipulation, basically, L all over. But there was trust. And Light knew that in return, for this to work, he had to trust L, and trust his intentions. He wasn't sure where the popsicle analogy fitted in with this, but he was more than willing to discard it at this point. In fact, he was slightly concerned about thinking of it in the first place. Apparently being Kira messed with your mind in more ways than one. Trust L, that was the point. And stop thinking about ice lollies so he could work out what was going on.

"You will not be penalised for having a close connection with the murderer, Miss Ainswright," L assured her, his eyes locked on hers, expression sincere.

"I haven't had contact with Colman for over a year," Jen protested shakily. "I'd hardly call it a close connection."

"On the contrary," L said forcefully, "I believe that you paid him a visit whilst on holiday in Devon, just around the time the first murder occurred."

Light knew that this was a complete bluff; he was unsure when Ryuuzaki had received the Colman Eochain lead. Perhaps he had received the clue from Watari at the same time as the information about the letters, and he had chosen to withhold it for some reason best known to himself. He did know, however, that L could not possibly know this for a fact. But watching Jen pale, he knew the genius detective had hit base.

"Do you have any evidence of that?" Jen asked uncertainly, failing to inject any conviction into her voice. L favoured her with a wide, predatory smile which Light found disturbingly sexy.

No, not time to think about that, either. Use his brain. How did Ryuuzaki think? What could Light have deduced by knowing this extra fact? Three letters. Two from the crime scene, the third almost certainly written on one of the paint tins which had been outside the house last time. So Jen had written them, or was implicated in their writing. But she would have had to have access to the first two crime scenes. The second she had no alibi for, so for all he knew she could have been there or had access to it. The first, she had met with Eochain sometime around the time of the first murder, giving her the opportunity to ask him for something from the scene or to plant the rest of a notebook at the scene. That made her look incredibly guilty. But L did not think she was the murderer. Why not?

"What do you think, Miss Ainswright?" L asked lightly as Light's mental wheels span dizzyingly.

Before she could reply, all three of them tensed at the slight depression of the floorboard visible underneath the door to the hallway. Jen turned frightened eyes to Ryuuzaki, and Light tried frantically to fumble together these irritatingly uncooperative fragments of evidence. Oh, that was right. The thing he was neglecting. The murderer was probably standing outside the door at this very moment. And Jen was afraid. Had she been coerced? Left clues on purpose? It made sense. But he was still missing one thing. Ironically, it was a name. And, he conceded wryly, a face. Nevertheless, the nameless, faceless embodiment of guilt was standing outside that very door. He shot a look at L, eyebrows raised half an inch. A clear sign of submission. _What do you want me to do? _L put his finger to his lips and gestured to Light to move silently towards the closed door which led to the rest of the house.

"You do not need to be concerned," L said, ostensibly to Jen, his voice as casual as ever, but the meaning slightly broader than the immediate context of her possible guilt. "We are not going to arrest you. Especially since it was you yourself who helped us to unravel the clues. But we must ask you one more thing."

"What?" Jen asked nervously. Light, next to the door, heard a faint creak of floorboards on the other side, and wondered when his role had become brawn instead of brains, for he was almost entirely certain of L's intentions.

"Duck," L said flatly. Light took that as his cue to slam the door open and lunge at the astonished man on the other side. A gun skittered across the floor, and Light wasted no time in pinning down the arms of the struggling and cussing man beneath him.

Like lightening, L was at his side and drawing out a pair of handcuffs, with which he secured the hollering man to the staircase.

"That went very smoothly, thank you, Light-kun," Ryuuzaki said casually.

Light looked at his serene expression. He looked at the pale as a ghost Jen standing next to him. He looked at the panting man looking daggers at the three of them.

"You're welcome, Ryuuzaki," he replied. "Now would somebody please explain to me what on earth is going on?"

**Heh, poor Light. Hope his crazy thought processes didn't twist your brains in knots too much. I'm almost certain this chapter does not make sense, but oh well, all may or may not become clear later on. And sorry for the cliffhanger. Please review and tear me to pieces if you wish. Confused parties may ask me questions, disappointed readers may tell me so (and why), and if anyone is still enjoying whatever the hell is going on, I'd like to hear about that, too.**


	12. Wavelength

**Ok the issue with this chapter is that I haven't read the rest of this story in so long that it might not be totally consistent with what came before, but I think it is; if anyone notices any discrepancies, please review or PM me. Sorry for the delay, I just finished my exams this week (finally). I hope it lives up to expectations and clarifies everything. There will be a brief epilogue to follow too. Please enjoy and review, and if you have time or inclination you might want to reread at least the last chapter before reading this for maximum impact.**

"This," L said calmly. "Is our murderer."

"I can see that," Light said irefully. "But-"

"But I am forgetting my manners," L interrupted smoothly. "Light-kun, I would like you to meet Mr Ainswright."

"I did nothing," spat the man tied to the staircase. He was quite tall, though not as tall as Light, and of a medium build, with dark, close-cropped hair which had whispers of grey about the temples, and slightly pouchy grey eyes. He looked faintly like a postman, except a lot angrier. But for Light, his appearance made no odds. Genius that he was, everything clicked into place with the name.

"Ah," he said, and L beamed, elated that Light had managed to work it out so swiftly. "The letters were-"

"Yes."

"And the sleeves-"

"Exactly."

"And you knew-"

"Yes."

"So the paint was-"

"Precisely."

"I see."

"I'm glad."

"Um..." Jen interrupted the rapid half-sentences timidly. "Whilst I'm glad you two seem to be on the same page, could you please talk in full sentences for the benefit of the non-psychic people in the room?"

"Surely you know the facts, Miss Ainswright," L said comfortably, still beaming at Light, who was having trouble suppressing his own rather foolish grin.

"Well, yes, but I would like to know how you managed to work things through," Jen replied. "I thought you were coming to arrest me."

"Thankfully I am far more intelligent than that," L replied, a little smugly. "Shall we sit down? It helps my thought process, and our Mr Ainswright is safely secure for now."

They went back into the living room, ignoring the incensed suspect.

"Jen-chan wanted us to suspect her from the beginning," L began as he crept into his favoured crouch. "And I admit, she did an excellent job of arousing my suspicions whilst acting as the paragon of innocence to less perceptive but no less paranoid eyes."

"Your father has been staying with you the whole time, I presume?" Light added. "And is the culprit of more than just murder, I assume. Did he hurt you very badly for agreeing to go on a date with me, Jen-chan?"

Jen's eyes were pooled with tears, but she was smiling slightly.

"I'm no idiot either," she replied. "I told him that I had to put you off the scent, and I swore I wouldn't tell you anything incriminating. He, er, he had me bugged," she admitted. "I could only slip in a few hints, but it was enough for him to get angry at me." She pulled up her sleeves to reveal ugly bruises across her wrists, and tugged down her collar to show a livid mark across her collarbone.

L wordlessly took out a camera and recorded the injuries whilst Light tried not to clench his fists. For a mass murderer, this went far beyond even his conceptualisation of evil. Suspicions of why L had withheld the identity of the murderer until this point settled and became concrete in his mind. Clever bastard.

"I'm sorry," he bit out to Jen. "I shouldn't have-"

"No," Jen cut across. "You were perfect. I was careless." She smiled again as she adjusted her clothing. "I knew that whilst you suspected me, you would never dare to let me know as much by asking anything too obvious. I hoped – when you looked at the letters- I hoped that you would notice that I had written them. I- I almost wanted to be caught. My father- he took me to the scene, for the second murder. Told me that he loved what I did, but no daughter of his was greater than her father. He said he wanted to create something even more eye-catching than I had. Something to put me in his debt. He loved that I was successful, but he wanted it to be because of him. I was disgusted. But I was so afraid. For me and for my mother. The only thing I could do was hope that you would work it out on your own. But I expected-"

"You thought you would go to jail too," Light finished. "Lucky for you that Ryuuzaki is so brilliant." Funnily, it didn't cost him a thing to say this, and mean it, too. L was brilliant, and so was he. They had been a team; equally matched.

"And that Jen-chan is so devious," L added, giving Light another glowing look. "It was suspicious from the beginning. From the outset, you were too knowledgeable. And you put paint cans outside, hoping that we would link the letters with the paint cans and become suspicious, but without arousing suspicion from your father."

"Yes," Jen admitted. "Perhaps it was arrogant to think that you would recognise the sign as something other than a murderer's carelessness."

"An intelligent and intuitive guess," Light contradicted. "It is only arrogance when it is unfounded." He would know, after all he was the master of arrogance.

"So you wrote the three letters and planted evidence leading to Mr Eoghain," L pursued. "Another clever move. We did research Mr Eoghain, to be thorough. He and your father used to be business partners, but they had a falling-out two years ago. You thought that any detective worthy of the name would investigate any family connections and therefore your father, without him knowing you had set it up as such. And if your father found out you had fabricated the letters, he would think you were helping him, and incriminating his enemy."

"It was risky, but it was the only way I could try and give the police a clue," Jen nodded.

"It was ingenious," L said, and Light was almost jealous at the high compliment he was paying the young woman.

"But there was a high chance that we would trace the letters back to you," Light intervened. "And if we had, then you would have been found guilty of being an accomplice, at the least, since you clearly had access and foreknowledge of the murder sites."

"I know," Jen said quietly. "It was almost impossible getting the materials from the scenes. The first one, my father took it away from the scene to prove to me he had done it. To frighten me, and to incriminate me if I told on him. The second one he- he took me there, and I managed to steal something. The third, though... I had no way. But I knew from my books..."

"I had my assistant run the materials through forensics," L explained. "It became apparent that the paint label was not one of the ones from the scene. Luckily, this worked in your favour, because only somebody who was not the murderer would have failed to have access to something from the murder scene. At first I considered that the letters were false. But I was certain of your involvement, and I remembered the paint cans outside your house, and I put together the hints. It left only a motive. You had some knowledge, but why would you let me know if you were guilty?"

"I'm glad you managed to work it out," Jen said fervently. "I wasn't sure if I'd just tied a noose around my neck or not."

"With anyone else, you might have," Light admitted. "It was a risky move."

"But I had nothing to lose," Jen replied, shuddering slightly. "My father was keeping me a prisoner, practically. I had no opportunity to tell the truth without the risk of me or my mother getting hurt, or even killed. All I could do was leave breadcrumbs."

"But how did you know," Light persisted, "That we would figure it out and not accuse you. Your father was outside the door with a gun. If we had come in and accused you, or said anything which had made him afraid for himself, he would have killed everyone in the room."

"I hoped," she said simply. "There was nothing else I could do. And I don't think he would have killed us. I just would have had to keep acting, pretended he was here to visit me, to keep me safe or something." Her lips twisted bitterly on the word 'safe'.

"Then how did you know, L," Light asked, rounding on his companion, "that I would take your cue and do what I did?" It wasn't really a question, since Light already knew the answer. It was a challenge.

"I trusted Light-kun," L said simply, looking at him with wide, innocent eyes which he should have known better than to think would work on Light.

"You were testing me," Light huffed. "Was this really the time? If I hadn't worked it out and trusted your judgement, we would all have died."

"I was 89% sure of this eventuality," L replied stolidly. "Although I admit that I also did not want to give Light-kun the opportunity to use the Note by knowing the identity of the suspect."

Light sputtered helplessly. There really was no need to be so shameless about it. He couldn't decide if the honesty was refreshing, or whether he was having his dignity put through the shredder at being treated like a naughty schoolboy.

"I apologise, Light-kun," L said sorrowfully. "But I will point out that I trusted Light-kun to firstly deduce the true series of events, and secondly to react bravely. And I gave Light-kun the chance to prove himself to me."

"Which I did," Light said, a trifle sullenly. He wanted to add that it hadn't even been an act, although it could well have been, but he wasn't sure it would help his case, and he was almost certain that L already knew.

"Remarkably so," L smiled softly, his face for once free of all manipulation or guardedness. "Light-kun was wonderful."

Light felt his face light up at the praise, and smiled shyly back at the detective, any thoughts of advantages, scoreboards and ulterior motives disappearing in a puff of smoke. The room went warm and fuzzy.

"We still need a confession," Light added eventually, once his insides had reassembled themselves from a syrupy goo reminiscent of a melted marshmallow into working organs again. He briefly considered the possibility that L's sugar-habit might have begun to rub off on him.

"That," L grinned evilly, "should not be an issue. For one thing, we have the testimony of his daughter and probably his wife, too, and for another, we have him attacking us with a gun, not generally the action of an innocent man. All we need now is to exert a little _intimidation _in the right places." Light recalled vividly his own and Misa's incarcerations, and the long links of the chain which had until recently linked them together. L's idea of intimidation was somewhat different from others. He almost pitied the man on the other side of the door, but he was a little preoccupied with being madly in love right now.

"Do you require my assistance?" he asked wryly. L gave him a small, mischievous smile. Jen was looking from one to the other in faint confusion again.

"Of course," L grinned. "Light-kun is indispensable."

Light decided that L had come to the same conclusion as him. Mind games made things so much more fun, especially when it was the two of them playing the same one together against someone else; he was 100% certain that Mr Ainswright could hear every word, and was working up a good sense of horror. Maybe the personal touch had something to be said for it.


	13. Epilogue

**Aaand we're finally at the end! Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, especially those who have stuck with it since the beginning. Hope the ending is satisfactory in its incredible shortness, but if anyone notices any discrepancies or wants to know something I didn't mention or whatever please tell me so I can go back and edit. If not, please drop a review and tell me how I did. I hope you've enjoyed reading this fic as much as I have writing it :)**

"L?" asked Light tentatively after a few moments of silence filled only with heavy breaths and the shifting of sheets.

"Yes, Light-kun?" asked L faintly.

"What we just did... isn't it illegal in this country?"

"..."

"Not that I'm complaining, but if we're here to solve crime, isn't it a little hypocritical if we break the law?" Light worked his face to its fullest advantage, eyes wide and innocent, mouth slightly pouted. Not that L could see him from where they lay side by side, staring at the high hotel ceiling, but knowing L, he could tell what Light's expression was with his eyes closed.

"...Are you making fun of me, Light-kun?" L asked eventually.

"Perhaps," Light smirked, rolling over onto his stomach to grin at L and push his messy hair out of his face, "but you make it so easy."

A slightly vindictive smile crept its way onto L's face, and one long-fingered hand crept around to graze over a particular spot on Light's left shoulder-blade.

"Ouch," Light griped. "That was uncalled for." L smirked evilly.

"On the contrary," L replied lightly. "It's too much fun to pass up."

A week had passed since they had cracked the case in England, and already they were in a new country working on a new case. They had both been a little reluctant to see the back of Wammy's House, and Mello, Matt and Near had looked crestfallen at the departure, especially since they had been utterly excluded from the conclusion of the case. It had done a lot to boost Light's popularity, however, when L had recounted his heroic wrestling of the gun from the crazed murder, a hyperbole adopted mainly for the benefit of Mello's overactive imagination. L had, in Light's opinion, showed considerable lapse in judgement, however, in taking the boys out on a final trip with the two of them; a romantic trip to the tattoo parlour.

"Don't I even get to choose the design?" Light griped as he was manhandled into a chair.

"No," L remarked cheerfully as Near examined the instruments curiously and Mello the sharp needles with unwonted fascination.

"Hey, can I get one too?" he asked hopefully.

"Go nuts," Near muttered half to himself.

"No," interpreted L hastily; this would be the one thing Near and Mello would agree on.

"Then why does he get one?" demanded Mello, jerking his thumb at the reluctant Light.

"Because it's my birthday, and I get to choose what I want, and I want Light to get a tattoo," L said firmly.

"Don't you mean Light-kun?" muttered Matt from behind his PSP; L's ears turned almost imperceptibly pink. Although the birthday thing was a cover story for the benefit of the boys, L had nevertheless made the most of the excuse and insisted that he get to choose the design which would forever etch the pulverised residue of the Death Note into Light's skin. Light, after some half-hearted argument, had conceded, more surprised that L had confided in him this little fact than he was annoyed that he was using it shamelessly to his advantage. Of course L was a Halloween baby.

This was the reason for Light's sore shoulder, and for the small black 'L' traced in gothic print on his perfect skin. In return, he received his memories, which L predicted would regenerate themselves in the same way as the pigment on his skin, even once none of the original Death Note-imbued ink remained. Along with that, he had received another gift, or more accurately, several more gifts. He got L, L himself, to live with and work with side by side for the rest of his life, which was far beyond his wildest hopes as Kira; no paltry goddess of his new world could compare to L in this one. Then he had power, the power to choose cases and chase criminals to his heart's content, something his life was incomplete without, as was L's. Finally, he had one single word, and the sentiment behind it, which meant more to him than anything else.

"Lawliet?" Light asked after another few moments of silence.

"Yes, Light?" Light smiled at the use of his own name, sans honorific, a smile he knew matched L's as his real name was spoken.

"Once we're done with this case, there's a report I was reading about a series of homicides in Iceland which resemble the blood feuds from the Icelandic sagas. Doesn't that sound interesting?"

"Hmm, yes," L mused. "But Watari rang earlier to tell me that there was a new case I've been asked to take in France concerning the theft of famous artworks. I hear that a Van Gogh was amongst the stolen pieces."

"Well, we could always split up and solve different cases," Light suggested, knowing full well how little this idea would appeal to L, whose possessive streak was surprisingly strong. Honeymoon period or no, it was too amusing to compete with L. "We could see who solves their case first."

"Light-kun, it is a very frivolous suggestion to wager on people's lives," L said disapprovingly, although Light knew this was just an excuse; after all, he had gambled on lives, including his own, in the Kira case, and both of their lives on the Ainswright case.

"Well then, which case should we solve next?" Light asked smugly, anticipating his success with barely suppressed glee.

"Both of them," L decided, equally smug. "Within a week at the most. But let's do the France one first; I hear there are some lovely resorts in Iceland, and once we finish the case, we could always linger for a day or two..."

Light knew he had been well and truly had, but he couldn't bring himself to mind, when the trump was one which suited him equally well. Their battles were usually fifty-fifty. He could win the next one.

"Mmmkay," he mumbled, snuggling into L's shoulder.

"Lawliet 1, Light 0," L murmured teasingly into his ear; Light had in one of his weaker moments confessed his inner scoreboard to L. "That means next time, I get to top."

"Bastard," Light murmured contentedly.

"Through and through," agreed L, sounding oddly flattered.

If this is how it's going to be.." Light began thoughtfully.

"Yes, Light?" L prompted after a few moments.

"...I think I could get used to it."

END


	14. Death Note

Hello all! Just a note to tell people about the exciting shiny new SEQUEL I am writing for this fic, in which L, Light, the Wammy's boys and Christmas all happen, and so does a case about chocolate. If you're interested, please check it out. It's going to be pretty fluffy, possibly ever so slightly silly, and sort of out of season, but hopefully the boys make up for it. Ok, that's all.


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